SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 


BY  RICHARD  HARDING  DAVIS. 

SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE.  Illustrated  by  C.  D. 
Gibson.  i2mo.  $1.50. 

GALLEGHER  AND  OTHER  STORIES.  12010. 
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SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 


BY 
RICHARD   HARDING  DAVIS 


WITH    ILLUSTRATIONS    BY 

C.    D.    GIBSON 


NEW  YOEK 

CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S   SONS 
1897 


4 

\) 


•>  * 


Copyright,  1897, 
BY  CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS. 


JOHN  WILSON  AND  SON,  CAMBRIDGE,  U.S.A. 


TO 

IRENE   AND  DANA   GIBSON 


372573 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


"YOU,    SlR,    WERE   A   GREAT    SOLDIER "    .       .     Frontispiece 

"  Now  YOU  CAN  GO  " to  face  page  64 

" THEY  DON'T  EVEN  KNOW  ' TOMMY  ATKINS '"    .  96 
LANGHAM  SHOVED  HIS  FACE  DOWN  BETWEEN  HIS 

KNEES  INTO  THE  SAND    .......  242 

HE  STRODE  ON  UP  THE  STAIRS 272 

"  OVER  THERE  IS  THE  COAST  OF  AFRICA  "  360 


SOLDIERS   OF   FORTUNE 


"!T  is  so  good  of  you  to  come  early,"  said 
Mrs.  Porter,  as  Alice  Langham  entered  the 
drawing-room.  "  I  want  to  ask  a  favor  of  you. 
I  'm  sure  you  won't  mind.  I  would  ask  one  of 
the  debutantes,  except  that  they  're  always  so 
cross  if  one  puts  them  next  to  men  they  don't 
know  and  who  can't  help  them,  and  so  I  thought 
I  'd  just  ask  you,  you  're  so  good-natured.  You 
don't  mind,  do  you  ?  " 

"I  mind  being  called  good-natured,"  said 
Miss  Langham,  smiling/  "Mind  what,  Mrs. 
Porter  ?  "  she  asked. 

"He  is  a  friend  of  George's,"  Mrs.  Porter 
explained,  vaguely.  "  He 's  a  cowboy.  It 
seems  he  was  very  civil  to  George  when  he  was 
out  there  shooting  in  New  Mexico,  or  Old 
Mexico,  I  don't  remember  which.  He  took 
George  to  his  hut  and  gave  him  things  to  shoot, 
and  all  that,  and  now  he  is  in  New  York  with  a 
1 


2  XOLI'lERS   OF  FORTUNE 

letter  of  introduction.  It's  just  like  George. 
He  may  be  a  most  impossible  sort  of  man,  but, 
as  I  said  to  Mr.  Porter,  the  people  I  've  asked 
can't  complain  because  I  don't  know  anything 
more  about  him  than  they  do.  He  called  to-day 
when  I  was  out  and  left  his  card  and  George's 
letter  of  introduction,  and  as  a  man  had  failed 
me  for  to-night,  I  just  thought  I  would  kill  two 
birds  with  one  stone,  and  ask  him  to  fill  his 
,place,  and  he's  here.  And,  oh,  yes,"  Mrs. 
Porter  added,  "  I  'm  going  to  put  him  next  to 
you,  do  you  mind  ?  " 

"  Unless  he  wears  leather  leggings  and  long 
spurs  I  shall  mind  very  much,"  said  Miss 
Langham. 

"  Well,  that 's  very  nice  of  you,"  purred  Mrs. 
Porter,  as  she  moved  away.  "  He  may  not  be 
so  bad,  after  all ;  and  I  '11  put  Reginald  King 
on  your  other  side,  shall  I  ?  "  she  asked,  paus 
ing  and  glancing  back. 

The  look  on  Miss  Langham's  face,  which  had 
been  one  of  amusement,  changed  consciously, 
and  she  smiled  with  polite  acquiescence. 

"As  you  please,  Mrs.  Porter,"  she  answered. 
She  raised  her  eyebrows  slightly.  "I  am,  as 
the  politicians  say,  '  in  the  hands  of  my 
friends. ' ' 

"Entirely  too  much   in  the  hands   of    my 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  3 

friends,"  she  repeated,  as  she  turned  away. 
This  was  the  twelfth  time  during  that  same 
winter  that  she  and  Mr.  King  had  been  placed 
next  to  one  another  at  dinner,  and  it  had  passed 
beyond  the  point  when  she  could  say  that  it  did 
not  matter  what  people  thought  as  long  as  she 
and  he  understood.  It  had  now  reached  that 
stage  when  she  was  not  quite  sure  that  she 
understood  either  him  or  herself.  They  had 
known  each  other  for  a  very  long  time;  too 
long,  she  sometimes  thought,  for  them  ever  to 
grow  to  know  each  other  any  better.  But  there 
was  always  the  chance  that  he  had  another 
side,  one  that  had  not  disclosed  itself,  and 
which  she  could  not  discover  in  the  strict  social 
environment  in  which  they  both  lived.  And 
she  was  the  surer  of  this  because  she  had  once 
seen  him  when  he  did  not  know  that  she  was 
near,  and  he  had  been  so  different  that  it  had 
puzzled  her  and  made  her  wonder  if  she  knew 
the  real  Reggie  King  at  all. 

It  was  at  a  dance  at  a  studio,  and  some 
French  pantomi mists  gave  a  little  play.  When 
it  was  over,  King  sat  in  the  corner  talking  to 

one  of  the  Frenchwomen,  and  while  he  waited 

v.  * 

on  her  he  was  laughirig  at  her  and  at  her  efforts 
to  speak  English.  He  was  telling  her  how  to 
say  certain  phrases  and  not  telling  her  cor- 


4  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

rectly,  and  she  suspected  this  and  was  accusing 
him  of  it,  and  they  were  rhapsodizing  and 
exclaiming  over  certain  delightful  places  and 
dishes  of  which  they  both  knew  in  Paris  with 
the  enthusiasm  of  two  children.  Miss  Langham 
saw  him  off  his  guard  for  the  first  time,  and 
instead  of  a  somewhat  bored  and  clever  man  of 
the  world,  he  appeared  as  sincere  and  interested 
as  a  boy.  When  he  joined  her,  later,  the  same 
evening,  he  was  as  entertaining  as  usual,  and 
as  polite  and  attentive  as  he  had  been  to  the 
Frenchwoman,  but  he  was  not  greatly  interested, 
and  his  laugh  was  modulated  and  not  sponta 
neous.  She  had  wondered  that  night,  and  fre 
quently  since  then,  if,  in  the  event  of  his  asking 
her  to  marry  him,  which  was  possible,  and  of 
her  accepting  him,  which  was  also  possible, 
whether  she  would  find  him,  in  the  closer 
knowledge  of  married  life,  as  keen  and  light- 
hearted  with  her  as  he  had  been  with  the 
French  dancer.  If  he  would  but  treat  her  more 
like  a  comrade  and  equal,  and  less  like  a  prime 
minister  conferring  with  his  queen !  She  wanted 
something  more  intimate  than  the  deference 
that  he  showed  her,  and  she  did  not  like  his 
taking  it  as  an  accepted  fact  that  she  was  as 
worldly-wise  as  himself,  even  though  it  were 
true. 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  5 

She  was  a  woman  and  wanted  to  be  loved,  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  she  had  been  loved  by 
many  men  —  at  least  it  was  so  supposed  —  and 
had  rejected  them. 

Each  had  offered  her  position,  or  had  wanted 
her  because  she  was  fitted  to  match  his  own 
great  state,  or  because  he  was  ambitious,  or 
because  she  was  rich.  The  man  who  could  love 
her  as  she  once  believed  men  could  love,  and 
who  could  give  her  something  else  besides 
approval  of  her  beauty  and  her  mind,  had  not 
disclosed  himself.  She  had  begun  to  think 
that  he  never  would,  that  he  did  not  exist,  that 
he  was  an  imagination  of  the  play-house  and 
the  novel.  The  men  whom  she  knew  were 
careful  to  show  her  that  they  appreciated  how 
distinguished  was  her  position,  and  how  inac 
cessible  she  was  to  them.  They  seemed  to 
think  that  by  so  humbling  themselves,  and  by 
emphasizing  her  position  they  pleased  her  best, 
when  it  was  what  she  wanted  them  to  forget. 
Each  of  them  would  draw  away  backward,  bow 
ing  and  protesting  that  he  was  unworthy  to 
raise  his  eyes  to  such  a  prize,  but  that  if  she 
would  only  stoop  to  him,  how  happy  his  life 
would  be.  Sometimes  they  meant  it  sincerely ; 
sometimes  they  were  gentlemanly  adventurers 
of  title,  from  whom  it  was  a  business  proposi- 


6  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

tion,  and  in  either  case  she  turned  restlessly 
away  and  asked  herself  how  long  it  would  be 
before  the  man  would  come  who  would  pick  her 
up  on  his  saddle  and  gallop  off  with  her,  with 
his  arm  around  her  waist  and  his  horse's  hoofs 
clattering  beneath  them,  and  echoing  the  tumult 
in  their  hearts. 

She  had  known  too  many  great  people  in  the 
world  to  feel  impressed  with  her  own  position 
at  home  in  America;  but  she  sometimes  com 
pared  herself  to  the  Queen  in  "In  a  Balcony," 
and  repeated  to  herself,  with  mock  serious 
ness  :  — 

"  And  you  the  marble  statue  all  the  time 
They  praise  and  point  at  as  preferred  to  life. 
Yet  leave  for  the  first  breathing  woman's  cheek, 
First  dancer's,  gypsy's  or  street  balladine's  !  " 

And  if  it  were  true,  she  asked  herself,  that 
the  man  she  had  imagined  was  only  an  ideal 
and  an  illusion,  was  not  King  the  best  of  the 
others,  the  unideal  and  ever-present  others  ? 
Every  one  else  seemed  to  think  so.  The  society 
they  knew  put  them  constantly  together  and 
approved.  Her  people  approved.  Her  own 
mind  approved,  and  as  her  heart  was  not  appar 
ently  ever  to  be  considered,  who  could  say  that 
it  did  not  approve  as  well  ?  He  was  certainly 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  7 

a  very  charming  fellow,  a  manly,  clever  com 
panion,  and  one  who  bore  about  him  the  evi 
dences  of  distinction  and  thorough  breeding. 
As  far  as  family  went,  the  Kings  were  as  old  as 
a  young  country  could  expect,  and  Reggie  King 
was,  moreover,  in  spite  of  his  wealth,  a  man  of 
action  and  ability.  His  yacht  journeyed  from 
continent  to  continent,  and  not  merely  up  the 
Sound  to  Newport,  and  he  was  as  well  known 
and  welcome  to  the  consuls  along  the  coasts  of 
Africa  and  South  America  as  he  was  at  Cowes  or 
Nice.  His  books  of  voyages  were  recognized 
by  geographical  societies  and  other  serious 
bodies,  who  had  given  him  permission  to  put 
long  disarrangements  of  the  alphabet  after  his 
name.  She  liked  him  because  she  had  grown 
to  be  at  home  with  him,  because  it  was  good  to 
know  that  there  was  some  one  who  would  not 
misunderstand  her,  and  who,  should  she  so 
indulge  herself,  would  not  take  advantage  of 
any  appeal  she  might  make  to  his  sympathy, 
who  would  always  be  sure  to  do  the  tactful 
thing  and  the  courteous  thing,  and  who,  while 
he  might  never  do  a  great  thing,  could  not  do 
an  unkind  one. 

Miss  Langham  had  entered  the  Porters' 
drawing-room  after  the  greater  number  of  the 
guests  had  arrived,  and  she  turned  from  her 


8  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

hostess  to  listen  to  an  old  gentleman  with  a 
passion  for  golf,  a  passion  in  which  he  had  for 
a  long  time  been  endeavoring  to  interest  her. 
She  answered  him  and  his  enthusiasm  in  kind, 
and  with  as  much  apparent  interest  as  she 
would  have  shown  in  a  matter  of  state.  It  was 
her  principle  to  be  all  things  to  all  men, 
whether  they  were  great  artists,  great  diplomats, 
or  great  bores.  If  a  man  had  been  pleading 
with  her  to  leave  the  conservatory  and  run  away 
with  him,  and  another  had  come  up  innocently 
and  announced  that  it  was  his  dance,  she  would 
have  said :  "  Oh,  is  it  ?  "  with  as  much  apparent 
delight  as  though  his  coming  had  been  the  one 
bright  hope  in  her  life. 

She  was  growing  enthusiastic  over  the  de 
lights  of  golf  and  unconsciously  making  a  very 
beautiful  picture  of  herself  in  her  interest  and 
forced  vivacity,  when  she  became  conscious  for 
the  first  time  of  a  strange  young  man  who  was 
standing  alone  before  the  fireplace  looking  at 
her,  and  frankly  listening  to  all  the  nonsense 
she  was  talking.  She  guessed  that  he  had 
been  listening  for  some  time,  and  she  also  saw, 
before  he  turned  his  eyes  quickly  away,  that  he 
was  distinctly  amused.  Miss  Langham  stopped 
gesticulating  and  lowered  her  voice,  but  con 
tinued  to  keep  her  eyes  on  the  face  of  the 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  9 

stranger,  whose  own  eyes  were  wandering  around 
the  room,  to  give  her,  so  she  guessed,  the  idea 
that  he  had  not  been  listening,  but  that  she 
had  caught  him  at  it  in  the  moment  he  had 
first  looked  at  her.  He  was  a  tall,  broad- 
shouldered  youth,  with  a  handsome  face,  tanned 
and  dyed,  either  by  the  sun  or  by  exposure  to 
the  wind,  to  a  deep  ruddy  brown,  which  con 
trasted  strangely  with  his  yellow  hair  and 
mustache,  and  with  the  pallor  of  the  other  faces 
about  him.  He  was  a  stranger  apparently  to 
every  one  present,  and  his  bearing  suggested, 
in  consequence  that  ease  of  manner  which 
comes  to  a  person  who  is  not  only  sure  of  him 
self,  but  who  has  no  knowledge  of  the  claims 
and  pretensions  to  social  distinction  of  those 
about  him.  His  most  attractive  feature  was 
his  eyes,  which  seemed  to  observe  all  that  was 
going  on,  not  only  what  was  on  the  surface,  but 
beneath  the  surface,  and  that  not  rudely  or 
covertly  but  with  the  frank,  quick  look  of  the 
trained  observer.  Miss  Langham  found  it  an 
interesting  face  to  watch,  and  she  did  not  look 
away  from  it.  She  was  acquainted  with  every 
one  else  in  the  room,  and  hence  she  knew  this 
must  be  the  cowboy  of  whom  Mrs.  Porter  had 
spoken,  and  she  wondered  how  any  one  who 
had  lived  the  rough  life  of  the  West  could  still 


10  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

retain  the  look  when  in  formal  clothes  of  one  who 
was  in  the  habit  of  doing  informal  things  in  them. 

Mrs.  Porter  presented  her  cowboy  simply  as 
"Mr.  Clay,  of  whom  I  spoke  to  you,"  with  a 
significant  raising  of  the  eyebrows,  and  the 
cowboy  made  way  for  King,  who  took  Miss 
Langham  in.  He  looked  frankly  pleased,  how 
ever,  when  he  found  himself  next  to  her  again, 
but  did  not  take  advantage  of  it  throughout  the 
first  part  of  the  dinner,  during  which  time  he 
talked  to  the  young  married  woman  on  his 
right,  and  Miss  Langham  and  King  continued 
where  they  had  left  off  at  their  last  meeting. 
They  knew  each  other  well  enough  to  joke  of 
the  way  in  which  they  were  thrown  into  each 
other's  society,  and,  as  she  said,  they  tried  to 
make  the  best  of  it.  But  while  she  spoke,  Miss 
Langham  was  continually  conscious  of  the 
presence  of  her  neighbor,  who  piqued  her  inter 
est  and  her  curiosity  in  different  ways.  He 
seemed  to  be  at  his  ease,  and  yet  from  the 
manner  in  which  he  glanced  up  and  down  the 
table  and  listened  to  snatches  of  talk  on  either 
side  of  him  he  had  the  appearance  of  one  to 
whom  it  was  all  new,  and  who  was  seeing  it  for 
the  first  time. 

There  was  a  jolly  group  at  one  end  of  the 
long  table,  and  they  wished  to  emphasize  the 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  11 

fact  by  laughing  a  little  more  hysterically  at 
their  remarks  than  the  humor  of  those  witti 
cisms  seemed  to  justify.  A  daughter-in-law  of 
Mrs.  Porter  was  their  leader  in  this,  and  at  one 
point  she  stopped  in  the  middle  of  a  story  and 
waving  her  hand  at  the  double  row  of  faces 
turned  in  her  direction,  which  had  been 
attracted  by  the  loudness  of  her  voice,  cried, 
gayly,  "Don't  listen.  This  is  for  private  cir 
culation.  It  is  not  a  jeune-fille  story."  The 
debutantes  at  the  table  continued  talking  again 
in  steady,  even  tones,  as  though  they  had  not 
heard  the  remark  or  the  first  of  the  story,  and 
the  men  next  to  them  appeared  equally  uncon 
scious.  But  the  cowboy,  Miss  Langham  noted 
out  of  the  corner  of  her  eye,  after  a  look  of 
polite  surprise,  beamed  with  amusement  and 
continued  to  stare  up  and  down  the  table  as 
though  he  had  discovered  a  new  trait  in  a 
peculiar  and  interesting  animal.  For  some 
reason,  she  could  not  tell  why,  she  felt  annoyed 
with  herself  and  with  her  friends,  and  resented 
the  attitude  which  the  new-comer  assumed  to 
ward  them. 

"  Mrs.  Porter  tells  me  that  you  know  her  son 
George  ?  "  she  said.  He  did  not  answer  her  at 
once,  but  bowed  his  head  in  assent,  with  a  look 
of  interrogation,  as  though,  so  it  seemed  to  her, 


12  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

he  had  expected  her,  when  she  did  speak,  to 
say  something  less  conventional. 

"Yes,"  he  replied,  after  a  pause,  "he  joined 
us  at  Ayutla.  It  was  the  terminus  of  the 
Jalisco  and  Mexican  Railroad  then.  He  came 
out  over  the  road  and  went  in  from  there  with 
an  outfit  after  mountain  lions.  I  believe  he 
had  very  good  sport." 

"That  is  a  very  wonderful  road,  I  am  told," 
said  King,  bending  forward  and  introducing 
himself  into  the  conversation  with  a  nod  of 
the  head  toward  Clay;  "quite  a  remarkable 
feat  of  engineering." 

"It  will  open  up  the  country,  I  believe," 
assented  the  other,  indifferently. 

"I  know  something  of  it,"  continued  King, 
"  because  I  met  the  men  who  were  putting  it 
through  at  Pariqua,  when  we  touched  there  in 
the  yacht.  They  shipped  most  of  their  plant  to 
that  port,  and  we  saw  a  good  deal  of  them. 
They  were  a  very  jolly  lot,  and  they  gave  me 
a  most  interesting  account  of  their  work  and 
its  difficulties." 

Clay  was  looking  at  the  other  closely,  as 
though  he  was  trying  to  find  something  back  of 
what  he  was  saying,  but  as  his  glance  seemed 
only  to  embarrass  King  he  smiled  freely  again 
in  assent,  and  gave  him  his  full  attention. 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  13 

"There  are  no  men  to-day,  Miss  Langham," 
King  exclaimed,  suddenly,  turning  toward  her, 
"  to  my  mind,  who  lead  as  picturesque  lives  as 
do  civil  engineers.  And  there  are  no  men 
whose  work  is  as  little  appreciated." 

"  Really? "  said  Miss  Langham,  encouragingly. 

"Now  those  men  I  met,"  continued  King, 
settling  himself  with  his  side  to  the  table, 
"were  all  young  fellows  of  thirty  or  there 
abouts,  but  they  were  leading  the  lives  of 
pioneers  and  martyrs  —  at  least  that 's  what 
I  'd  call  it.  They  were  marching  through  an 
almost  unknown  part  of  Mexico,  fighting  Nature 
at  every  step  and  carrying  civilization  with 
them.  They  were  doing  better  work  than 
soldiers,  because  soldiers  destroy  things,  and 
these  chaps  were  creating,  and  making  the  way 
straight.  They  had  no  banners  either,  nor 
brass  bands.  They  fought  mountains  and 
rivers,  and  they  were  attacked  on  every  side  by 
fever  and  the  lack  of  food  and  severe  exposure. 
They  had  to  sit  down  around  a  camp-fire  at 
night  and  calculate  whether  they  were  to  tunnel 
a  mountain,  or  turn  the  bed  of  a  river  or  bridge 
it.  And  they  knew  all  the  time  that  whatever 
they  decided  to  do  out  there  in  the  wilderness 
meant  thousands  of  dollars  to  the  stockholders 
somewhere  up  in  God's  country,  who  would 


14  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

some  day  hold  them  to  account  for  them.  They 
dragged  their  chains  through  miles  and  miles 
of  jungle,  and  over  flat  alkali  beds  and  cactus, 
and  they  reared  bridges  across  roaring  canons. 
We  "know  nothing  about  them  and  we  care  less. 
When  their  work  is  done  we  ride  over  the  road 
in  an  observation-car  and  look  down  thousands 
and  thousands  of  feet  into  the  depths  they  have 
bridged,  and  we  never  give  them  a  thought. 
They  are  the  bravest  soldiers  of  the  present 
day,  and  they  are  the  least  recognized.  I  have 
forgotten  their  names,  and  you  never  heard 
them.  But  it  seems  to  me  the  civil  engineer, 
for  all  that,  is  the  chief  civilizer  of  our 
century. " 

Miss  Langham  was  looking  ahead  of  her  with 
her  eyes  half-closed,  as  though  she  were  going 
over  in  her  mind  the  situation  King  had 
described. 

"I  never  thought  of  that,"  she  said.  "It 
sounds  very  fine.  As  you  say,  the  reward  is  so 
inglorious.  But  that  is  what  makes  it  fine. " 

The  cowboy  was  looking  down  at  the  table 
and  pulling  at  a  flower  in  the  centre-piece.  He 
had  ceased  to  smile.  Miss  Langham  turned  on 
him  somewhat  sharply,  resenting  his  silence, 
and  said,  with  a  slight  challenge  in  her  voice :  — 

"Do you  agree,  Mr.  Clay,"  she  asked,  "or  do 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  15 

you  prefer  the  chocolate-cream  soldiers,  in  red 
coats  and  gold  lace  ?  " 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know, "  the  young  man  answered, 
with  some  slight  hesitation.  "  It 's  a  trade  for 
each  of  them.  The  engineer's  work  is  all  the 
more  absorbing,  I  imagine,  when  the  difficul 
ties  are  greatest.  He  has  the  fun  of  overcom 
ing  them." 

"You  see  nothing  in  it  then,"  she  asked, 
"but  a  source  of  amusement?" 

"  Oh,  yes,  a  good  deal  more, "  he  replied.  "  A 
livelihood,  for  one  thing.  I  —  I  have  been  an 
engineer  all  my  life.  I  built  that  road  Mr. 
King  is  talking  about." 

An  hour  later,  when  Mrs.  Porter  made  the 
move  to  go,  Miss  Langham  rose  with  a  protest 
ing  sigh.  "  I  am  so  sorry, "  she  said,  "  it  has 
been  most  interesting.  I  never  met  two  men 
who  had  visited  so  many  inaccessible  places 
and  come  out  whole.  You  have  quite  inspired 
Mr.  King,  he  was  never  so  amusing.  But  I 
should  like  to  hear  the  end  of  that  adventure; 
won't  you  tell  it  to  me  in  the  other  room  ?  " 

Clay  bowed.  "  If  I  have  n't  thought  of  some 
thing  more  interesting  in  the  meantime,"  he 
said. 

"What  I  can't  understand,"  said  King,  as 


16  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

he  moved  up  into  Miss  Langham's  place,  "  is 
how  you  had  time  to  learn  so  much  of  the  rest 
of  the  world.  You  don't  act  like  a  man  who 
had  spent  his  life  in  the  brush." 

"How  do  you  mean?"  asked  Clay,  smiling 
—  "that  I  don't  use  the  wrong  forks?" 

"No,"  laughed  King,  "but  you  told  us  that 
this  was  your  first  visit  East,  and  yet  you  're 
talking  about  England  and  Vienna  and  Voisin'». 
How  is  it  you  've  been  there,  while  you  have 
never  been  in  New  York  ? " 

"  Well,  that 's  partly  due  to  accident  and 
partly  to  design,"  Clay  answered.  "You  see 
I  've  worked  for  English  and  German  and 
French  companies,  as  well  as  for  those  in  the 
States,  and  1  go  abroad  to  make  reports  and  to 
receive  instructions.  And  then  I  'm  what  you 
call  a  self-made  man;  that  is,  I  've  never  been 
to  college.  I  've  always  had  to  educate  myself, 
and  whenever  I  did  get  a  holiday  it  seemed  to 
me  that  I  ought  to  put  it  to  the  best  advantage, 
and  to  spend  it  where  civilization  was  the 
furthest  advanced  —  advanced,  at  least,  in  years. 
When  I  settle  down  and  become  an  expert,  and 
demand  large  sums  for  just  looking  at  the  work 
other  fellows  have  done,  then  I  hope  to  live  in 
New  York,  but  until  then  I  go  where  the  art 
galleries  are  biggest  and  where  they  have  got 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  17 

the  science  of  enjoying  themselves  down  to  the 
very  finest  point.  I  have  enough  rough  work 
eight  months  of  the  year  to  make  me  appreciate 
that.  So  whenever  I  get  a  few  months  to  my 
self  I  take  the  Royal  Mail  to  London,  and  from 
there  to  Paris  or  Vienna.  I  think  I  like 
Vienna  the  best.  The  directors  are  generally 
important  people  in  their  own  cities,  and  they 
ask  one  about,  and  so,  though  I  hope  I  am  a 
good  American,  it  happens  that  I  've  more 
friends  on  the  Continent  than  in  the  United 
States." 

"  And  how  does  this  strike  you  ? "  asked 
King,  with  a  movement  of  his  shoulder  toward 
the  men  about  the  dismantled  table. 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know, "  laughed  Clay.  "  You  've 
lived  abroad  yourself;  how  does  it  strike  you  ?  " 

Clay  was  the  first  man  to  enter  the  drawing- 
room.  He  walked  directly  away  from  the 
others  and  over  to  Miss  Langham,  and,  taking 
her  fan  out  of  her  hands  as  though  to  assure 
himself  of  some  hold  upon  her,  seated  himself 
with  his  back  to  every  one  else. 

"  You  have  come  to  finish  that  story  ?  "  she 
said,  smiling. 

Miss  Langham  was  a  careful  young  person, 
and  would  not  have  encouraged  a  man  she  knew 
even  as  well  as  she  knew  King,  to  talk  to  her 
2 


18  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

through  dinner,  and  after  it  as  well.  She 
fully  recognized  that  because  she  was  conspicu 
ous  certain  innocent  pleasures  were  denied  her 
which  other  girls  could  enjoy  without  attract 
ing  attention  or  comment.  But  Clay  interested 
her  beyond  her  usual  self,  and  the  look  in  his 
eyes  was  a  tribute  which  she  had  no  wish  to  put 
away  from  her. 

"I  've  thought  of  something  more  interesting 
to  talk  about,"  said  Clay.  "I  'm  going  to  talk 
about  you.  You  see  I  've  known  you  a  long 
time." 

"  Since  eight  o'clock  ?  "  asked  Miss  Langham. 

"Oh,  no,  since  your  coming  out,  four  years 
ago." 

"  It 's  not  polite  to  remember  so  far  back, " 
she  said.  "  Were  you  one  of  those  who  assisted 
at  that  important  function  ?  There  were  so 
many  there  I  don't  remember." 

"No,  I  only  read  about  it.  I  remember  it 
very  well;  I  had  ridden  over  twelve  miles  for 
the  mail  that  day,  and  I  stopped  half-way  back 
to  the  ranch  and  camped  out  in  the  shade  of  a 
rock  and  read  all  the  papers  and  magazines 
through  at  one  sitting,  until  the  sun  went  down 
and  I  could  n't  see  the  print.  One  of  the  papers 
had  an  account  of  your  coming  out  in  it,  and  a 
picture  of  you,  and  I  wrote  East  to  the  pho- 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  19 

tographer  for  the  original.  It  knocked  about 
the  West  for  three  months  and  then  reached 
me  at  Laredo,  on  the  border  between  Texas 
and  Mexico,  and  I  have  had  it  with  me  ever 
since." 

Miss  Langham  looked  at  Clay  for  a  moment 
in  silent  dismay  and  with  a  perplexed  smile. 

"  Where  is  it  now  ?  "  she  asked  at  last. 

"In  my  trunk  at  the  hotel." 

"Oh,"  she  said,  slowly.  She  was  still  in 
doubt  as  how  to  treat  this  act  of  unconvention- 
ality.  "Not  in  your  watch?"  she  said,  to 
cover  up  the  pause.  "That  would  have  been 
more  in  keeping  with  the  rest  of  the  story." 

The  young  man  smiled  grimly,  and  pulling 
out  his  watch  pried  back  the  lid  and  turned  it 
to  her  so  that  she  could  see  a  photograph  inside. 
The  face  in  the  watch  was  that  of  a  young  girl 
in  the  dress  of  a  fashion  of  several  years  ago. 
It  was  a  lovely,  frank  face,  looking  out  of  the 
picture  into  the  world  kindly  and  questioningly, 
and  without  fear. 

"  Was  I  once  like  that  ? "  she  said,  lightly. 
"Well,  go  on." 

"Well,"  he  said,  with  a  little  sigh  of  relief, 
"I  became  greatly  interested  in  Miss  Alice 
Langham,  and  in  her  comings  out  and  goings 
in,  and  in  her  gowns.  Thanks  to  our  having  a 


20  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

press  in  the  States  that  makes  a  specialty  of 
personalities,  I  was  able  to  follow  you  pretty 
closely,  for,  wherever  I  go,  I  have  my  papers 
sent  after  me.  I  can  get  along  without  a  com 
pass  or  a  medicine-chest,  but  I  can't  do  with 
out  the  newspapers  and  the  magazines.  There 
was  a  time  when  I  thought  you  were  going  to 
marry  that  Austrian  chap,  and  I  did  n't  approve 
of  that.  I  knew  things  about  him  in  Vienna. 
And  then  I  read  of  your  engagement  to  others 
—  well  —  several  others ;  some  of  them  I 
thought  worthy,  and  others  not.  Once  I  even 
thought  of  writing  you  about  it,  and  once  I  saw 
you  in  Paris.  You  were  passing  on  a  coach. 
The  man  with  me  told  me  it  was  you,  and  I 
wanted  to  follow  the  coach  in  a  fiacre,  but  he 
said  he  knew  at  what  hotel  you  were  stopping, 
and  so  I  let  you  go,  but  you  were  not  at  that 
hotel,  or  at  any  other  —  at  least,  I  could  n't  find 
you." 

"  What  would  you  have  done  —  ? "  asked  Miss 
Langham.  "Never  mind,"  she  interrupted, 
"go  on." 

"Well,  that's  all,"  said  Clay,  smiling. 
"That 's  all,  at  least,  that  concerns  you.  That 
is  the  romance  of  this  poor  young  man. " 

"But  not  the  only  one,"  she  said,  for  the 
sake  of  saying  something. 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  21 

" Perhaps  not, "  answered  Clay,  "but  the  only 
one  that  counts.  I  always  knew  I  was  going 
to  meet  you  some  day.  And  now  I  have  met 
you." 

"  Well,  and  now  that  you  have  met  me, "  said 
Miss  Langham,  looking  at  him  in  some  amuse 
ment,  "  are  you  sorry  ?  " 

"No  —  "  said  Clay,  but  so  slowly  and  with 
such  consideration  that  Miss  Langham  laughed 
and  held  her  head  a  little  higher.  "  Not  sorry  to 
meet  you,  but  to  meet  you  in  such  surroundings." 

"  What  fault  do  you  find  with  my  surround 
ings  ? " 

"Well,  these  people,"  answered  Clay,  "they 
are  so  foolish,  so  futile.  You  should  n't  be 
here.  There  must  be  something  else  better 
than  this.  You  can't  make  me  believe  that 
you  choose  it.  In  Europe  you  could  have  a 
salon,  or  you  could  influence  statesmen.  There 
surely  must  be  something  here  for  you  to  turn 
to  as  well.  Something  better  than  golf-sticks 
and  salted  almonds." 

"  What  do  you  know  of  me  ?  "  said  Miss 
Langham,  steadily.  "Only  what  you  have 
read  of  me  in  impertinent  paragraphs.  How 
do  you  know  I  am  fitted  for  anything  else  but 
just  this  ?  You  never  spoke  with  me  before 
to-night." 


22  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

"That  has  nothing  to  do  with  it,"  said  Clay, 
quickly.  "  Time  is  made  for  ordinary  people. 
When  people  who  amount  to  anything  meet 
they  don't  have  to  waste  months  in  finding 
each  other  out.  It  is  only  the  doubtful  ones 
who  have  to  be  tested  again  and  again.  When 
I  was  a  kid  in  the  diamond  mines  in  Kimberley, 
I  have  seen  the  experts  pick  out  a  perfect 
diamond  from  the  heap  at  the  first  glance,  and 
without  a  moment's  hesitation.  It  was  the 
cheap  stones  they  spent  most  of  the  afternoon 
over.  Suppose  1  have  only  seen  you  to-night 
for  the  first  time ;  suppose  I  shall  not  see  you 
again,  which  is  quite  likely,  for  I  sail  to 
morrow  for  South  America  —  what  of  that  ?  I 
am  just  as  sure  of  what  you  are  as  though  I 
had  known  you  for  years." 

Miss  Langham  looked  at  him  for  a  moment 
in  silence.  Her  beauty  was  so  great  that  she 
could  take  her  time  to  speak.  She  was  not 
afraid  of  losing  any  one's  attention. 

"  And  have  you  come  out  of  the  West,  know 
ing  me  so  well,  just  to  tell  me  that  I  am  wast 
ing  myself  ?  "  she  said.  "  Is  that  all  ?  " 

"That  is  all,"  answered  Clay.  "You  know 
the  things  I  would  like  to  tell  you,"  he  added, 
looking  at  her  closely. 

"  I  think  I  like  to  be  told  the  other  things 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  23 

best,"    she     said,    "they    are    the    easier    to 
believe." 

"You  have  to  believe  whatever  I  tell  you," 
said  Clay,  smiling.  The  girl  pressed  her 
hands  together  in  her  lap,  and  looked  at  him 
curiously.  The  people  about  them  were  mov 
ing  and  making  their  farewells,  and  they 
brought  her  back  to  the  present  with  a  start. 
"I'm  sorry  you're  going  away,"  she  said, 
"  It  has  been  so  odd.  You  come  suddenly  up 
out  of  the  wilderness,  and  set  me  to  thinking 
and  try  to  trouble  me  with  questions  about 
myself,  and  then  steal  away  again  without 
stopping  to  help  me  to  settle  them.  Is  it 
fair  ?  "  She  rose  and  put  out  her  hand,  and  he 
took  it  and  held  it  for  a  moment,  while  they 
stood  looking  at  one  another. 

"I  am  coming  back,"  he  said,  "and  I  will 
find  that  you  have  settled  them  for  your 
self." 

"Good-by,"  she  said,  in  so  low  a  tone  that 
the  people  standing  near  them  could  not  hear. 
"You  haven't  asked  me  for  it,  you  know,  but 
—  I  think  I  shall  let  you  keep  that  picture. " 

"Thank  you,"  said  Clay,  smiling,  "I  meant 
to." 

"You  can  keep  it,"  she  continued,  turning 
back,  "  because  it  is  not  my  picture.  It  is  a 


24  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

picture  of  a  girl  who  ceased  to  exist  four  years 
ago,  and  whom  you  have  never  met.  Good 
night." 

Mr.  Langham  and  Hope, his  younger  daughter, 
had  been  to  the  theatre.  The  performance  had 
been  one  which  delighted  Miss  Hope,  and 
which  satisfied  her  father  because  he  loved  to 
hear  her  laugh.  Mr.  Langham  was  the  slave  of 
his  own  good  fortune.  By  instinct  and  educa 
tion  he  was  a  man  of  leisure  and  culture,  but 
the  wealth  he  had  inherited  was  like  an  unruly 
child  that  needed  his  constant  watching,  and 
in  keeping  it  well  in  hand  he  had  become  a 
man  of  business,  with  time  for  nothing  else. 

Alice  Langham,  on  her  return  from  Mrs. 
Porter's  dinner,  found  him  in  his  study  engaged 
with  a  game  of  solitaire,  while  Hope  was 
kneeling  on  a  chair  beside  him  with  her  elbows 
on  the  table.  Mr.  Langham  had  been  troubled 
with  insomnia  of  late,  and  so  it  often  happened 
that  when  Alice  returned  from  a  ball  she  would 
find  him  sitting  with  a  novel,  or  his  game  of 
solitaire,  and  Hope,  who  had  crept  down-stairs 
from  her  bed,  dozing  in  front  of  the  open  fire 
and  keeping  him  silent  company.  The  father 
and  the  younger  daughter  were  very  close  to 
one  another,  and  had  grown  especially  so  since 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  25 

his  wife  had  died  and  his  son  and  heir  had 
gone  to  college.  This  fourth  member  of  the 
family  was  a  great  bond  of  sympathy  and 
interest  between  them,  and  his  triumphs  and 
escapades  at  Yale  were  the  chief  subjects  of 
their  conversation.  It  was  told  by  the  directors 
of  a  great  Western  railroad,  who  had  come  to 
New  York  to  discuss  an  important  question 
with  Mr.  Langham,  that  they  had  been  ushered 
downstairs  one  night  into  his  basement,  where 
they  had  found  the  President  of  the  Board  and 
his  daughter  Hope  working  out  a  game  of  foot 
ball  on  the  billiard-table.  They  had  chalked 
it  off  into  what  corresponded  to  five-yard  lines, 
and  they  were  hurling  twenty -two  chess-men 
across  it  in  "  flying  wedges  "  and  practising  the 
several  tricks  which  young  Langham  had  in 
trusted  to  his  sister  under  an  oath  of  secrecy. 
The  sight  filled  the  directors  with  the  horrible 
fear  that  business  troubles  had  turned  the 
President's  mind,  but  after  they  had  sat  for 
half  an  hour  perched  on  the  high  chairs  around 
the  table,  while  Hope  excitedly  explained  the 
game  to  them,  they  decided  that  he  was  wiser 
than  they  knew,  and  each  left  the  house  regret 
ting  he  had  no  son  worthy  enough  to  bring 
"that  young  girl"  into  the  Far  West. 

"You  are  home  early,"  said  Mr.  Langham, 


26  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

as  Alice  stood  above  him  pulling  at  her  gloves. 
"  I  thought  you  said  you  were  going  on  to  some 
dance." 

"I  was  tired,"  his  daughter  answered. 

"  Well,  when  I  'm  out, "  commented  Hope,  "  I 
won't  come  home  at  eleven  o'clock.  Alice 
always  was  a  quitter." 

"  A  what  ?  "  asked  the  older  sister. 

"Tell  us  what  you  had  for  dinner,"  said 
Hope.  "I  know  it  isn't  nice  to  ask,"  she 
added,  hastily,  "but  I  always  like  to  know." 

"  I  don't  remember,"  Miss  Langham  answered, 
smiling  at  her  father,  "  except  that  he  was  very 
much  sunburned  and  had  most  perplexing 
eyes. " 

"Oh,  of  course,"  assented  Hope,  "I  suppose 
you  mean  by  that  that  you  talked  with  some 
man  all  through  dinner.  Well,  I  think  there 
is  a  time  for  everything. " 

"Father,"  interrupted  Miss  Langham,  "do 
you  know  many  engineers  —  I  mean  do  you 
come  in  contact  with  them  through  the  rail 
roads  and  mines  you  have  an  interest  in  ?  I 
am  rather  curious  about  them,"  she  said, 
lightly.  "  They  seem  to  be  a  most  picturesque 
lot  of  young  men. " 

"  Engineers  ?  Of  course,"  said  Mr.  Langham, 
vaguely,  with  the  ten  of  spades  held  doubtfully 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  27 

in  air.  "  Sometimes  we  have  to  depend  upon 
them  altogether.  We  decide  from  what  the 
engineering  experts  tell  us  whether  we  will 
invest  in  a  thing  or  not." 

"I  dpn't  think  I  mean  the  big  men  of  the 
profession,"  said  his  daughter,  doubtfully.  "I 
mean  those  who  do  the  rough  work.  The  men 
who  dig  the  mines  and  lay  out  the  railroads. 
Do  you  know  any  of  them  ? " 

"Some  of  them,"  said  Mr.  Langham,  leaning 
back  and  shuffling  the  cards  for  a  new  game. 
"  Why  ?  " 

"Did  you  ever  hear  of  a  Mr.  Robert  Clay  ?  " 

Mr.  Langham  smiled  as  he  placed  the  cards 
one  above  the  other  in  even  rows.  "Very 
often,"  he  said.  "He  sails  to-morrow  to  open 
up  the  largest  iron  deposits  in  South  America. 
He  goes  for  the  Valencia  Mining  Company. 
Valencia  is  the  capital  of  Olancho,  one  of  those 
little  republics  down  there." 

"Do  you  —  are  you  interested  in  that  com 
pany  ?  "  asked  Miss  Langham,  seating  herself 
before  the  fire  and  holding  out  her  hands  toward 
it.  "Does  Mr.  Clay  know  that  you  are  ?  " 

"  Yes  —  I  am  interested  in  it,"  Mr.  Langham 
replied,  studying  the  cards  before  him,  "  but  I 
don't  think  Clay  knows  it  —  nobody  knows  it 
yet,  except  the  president  and  the  other  officers." 


28  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

He  lifted  a  card  and  put  it  down  again  in  some 
indecision.  "It's  generally  supposed  to  be 
operated  by  a  company,  but  all  the  stock  is 
owned  by  one  man.  As  a  matter  of  .fact,  my 
dear  children,"  exclaimed  Mr.  Lfangham,  as  he 
placed  a  deuce  of  clubs  upon  a  deuce  of  spades 
with  a  smile  of  content,  "the  Valencia  Mining 
Company  is  your  beloved  father." 

"Oh,"  said  Miss  Langham,  as  she  looked 
steadily  into  the  fire. 

Hope  tapped  her  lips  gently  with  the  back 
of  her  hand  to  hide  the  fact  that  she  was  sleepy, 
and  nudged  her  father's  elbow.  "  You  should  n't 
have  put  the  deuce  there,"  she  said,  "you 
should  have  used  it  to  build  with  on  the  ace." 


II 


A  YEAR  before  Mrs.  Porter's  dinner  a  tramp 
steamer  on  her  way  to  the  capital  of  Brazil  had 
steered  so  close  to  the  shores  of  Olancho  that 
her  solitary  passenger  could  look  into  the 
caverns  the  waves  had  tunnelled  in  the  lime 
stone  cliffs  along  the  coast.  The  solitary  pas 
senger  was  Robert  Clay,  and  he  made  a  guess 
that  the  white  palisades  which  fringed  the  base 
of  the  mountains  along  the  shore  had  been 
forced  up  above  the  level  of  the  sea  many  years 
before  by  some  volcanic  action.  Olancho,  as 
many  people  know,  is  situated  on  the  north 
eastern  coast  of  South  America,  and  its  shores 
are  washed  by  the  main  equatorial  current. 
From  the  deck  of  a  passing  vessel  you  can 
obtain  but  little  idea  of  Olancho  or  of  the 
abundance  and  tropical  beauty  which  lies  hid 
den  away  behind  the  rampart  of  mountains  on 
her  shore.  You  can  see  only  their  desolate 
dark-green  front,  and  the  white  caves  at  their 
base,  into  which  the  waves  rush  with  an  echo 
ing  roar,  and  in  and  out  of  which  fly  continually 


30  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

thousands  of  frightened  bats.  The  mining 
engineer  on  the  rail  of  the  tramp  steamer 
observed  this  peculiar  formation  of  the  coast 
with  listless  interest,  until  he  noted,  when  the 
vessel  stood  some  thirty  miles  north  of  the 
harbor  of  Valencia,  that  the  limestone  forma 
tion  had  disappeared,  and  that  the  waves  now 
beat  against  the  base  of  the  mountains  them 
selves.  There  were  five  of  these  mountains 
which  jutted  out  into  the  ocean,  and  they  sug 
gested  roughly  the  five  knuckles  of  a  giant 
hand  clenched  and  lying  flat  upon  the  surface 
of  the  water.  They  extended  for  seven  miles, 
and  then  the  caverns  in  the  palisades  began 
again  and  continued  on  down  the  coast  to  the 
great  cliffs  that  guard  the  harbor  of  Olancho's 
capital. 

"  The  waves  tunnelled  their  way  easily 
enough  until  they  ran  up  against  those  five 
mountains,"  mused  the  engineer,  "  and  then  they 
had  to  fall  back."  He  walked  to  the  captain's 
cabin  and  asked  to  look  at  a  map  of  the  coast 
line.  "  I  believe  I  won't  go  to  Rio,"  he  said 
later  in  the  day ;  "  I  think  I  will  drop  off  here 
at  Valencia." 

So  he  left  the  tramp  steamer  at  that  place 
and  disappeared  into  the  interior  with  an  ox 
cart  and  a  couple  of  pack-mules,  and  returned 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  31 

to  write  a  lengthy  letter  from  the  Consul's  office 
to  a  Mr.  Langham  in  the  United  States,  knowing 
he  was  largely  interested  in  mines  and  in  min 
ing.  "  There  are  five  mountains  filled  with 
ore,"  Clay  wrote,  "which  should  be  extracted 
by  open-faced  workings.  I  saw  great  masses  of 
red  hematite  lying  exposed  on  the  side  of  the 
mountain,  only  waiting  a  pick  and  shovel,  and 
at  one  place  there  were  five  thousand  tons  in 
plain  sight.  I  should  call  the  stuff  first-class 
Bessemer  ore,  running  about  sixty-three  per 
cent  metallic  iron.  The  people  know  it  is 
there,  but  have  no  knowledge  of  its  value,  and 
are  too  lazy  to  ever  work  it  themselves.  As  to 
transportation,  it  would  only  be  necessary  to 
run  a  freight  railroad  twenty  miles  along  the 
sea  coast  to  the  harbor  of  Valencia  and  dump 
your  ore  from  your  own  pier  into  your  own  ves 
sels.  It  would  not,  I  think,  be  possible  to  ship 
direct  from  the  mines  themselves,  even  though, 
as  I  say,  the  ore  runs  right  down  into  the  water, 
because  there  is  no  place  at  which  it  would  be 
safe  for  a  large  vessel  to  touch.  I  will  look  into 
the  political  side  of  it  and  see  what  sort  of  a 
concession  I  can  get  for  you.  I  should  think 
ten  per  cent  of  the  output  would  satisfy  them,, 
and  they  would,  of  course,  admit  machinery 
and  plant  free  of  duty." 


32  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

Six  months  after  this  communication  had 
arrived  in  New  York  City,  the  Valencia  Mining 
Company  was  formally  incorporated,  and  a  man 
named  Van  Antwerp,  with  two  hundred  work 
men  and  a  half-dozen  assistants,  was  sent  South 
to  lay  out  the  freight  railroad,  to  erect  the 
dumping-pier,  and  to  strip  the  five  mountains  of 
their  forests  and  underbrush.  It  was  not  a 
task  for  a  holiday,  but  a  stern,  difficult,  and  per 
plexing  problem,  and  Van  Antwerp  was  not 
quite  the  man  to  solve  it.  He  was  stubborn, 
self-confident,  and  indifferent  by  turns.  He  did 
not  depend  upon  his  lieutenants,  but  jealously 
guarded  his  own  opinions  from  the  least  question 
or  discussion,  and  at  every  step  he  antagonized 
the  easy-going  people  among  whom  he  had  come 
to  work.  He  had  no  patience  with  their  habits 
of  procrastination,  and  he  was  continually 
offending  their  lazy  good-nature  and  their  pride. 
He  treated  the  rich  planters,  who  owned  the 
land  between  the  mines  and  the  harbor  over 
which  the  freight  railroad  must  run,  with  as 
little  consideration  as  he  showed  the  regiment 
of  soldiers  which  the  Government  had  farmed 
out  to  the  company  to  serve  as  laborers  in 
the  mines.  Six  months  after  Van  Antwerp 
had  taken  charge  at  Valencia,  Clay,  who  had 
finished  the  railroad  in  Mexico,  of  which  King 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  33 

had  spoken,  was  asked  by  telegraph  to  under 
take  the  work  of  getting  the  ore  out  of  the 
mountains  he  had  discovered,  and  shipping  it 
North.  He  accepted  the  offer  and  was  given  the 
title  of  General  Manager  and  Resident  Director, 
and  an  enormous  salary,  and  was  also  given  to 
understand  that  the  rough  work  of  preparation 
had  been  accomplished,  and  that  the  more 
important  service  of  picking  up  the  five  moun 
tains  and  putting  them  in  fragments  into  tramp 
steamers  would  continue  under  his  direction. 
He  had  a  letter  of  recall  for  Van  Antwerp,  and 
a  letter  of  introduction  to  the  Minister  of  Mines 
and  Agriculture.  Farther  than  that  he  knew 
nothing  of  the  work  before  him,  but  he  con 
cluded,  from  the  fact  that  he  had  been  paid  the 
almost  prohibitive  sum  he  had  asked  for  his  ser 
vices,  that  it  must  be  important,  or  that  he  had 
reached  that  place  in  his  career  when  he  could 
stop  actual  work  and  live  easily,  as  an  expert, 
on  the  work  of  others. 

Clay  rolled  along  the  coast  from  Valencia  to 
the  mines  in  a  paddle-wheeled  steamer  that  had 
served  its  usefulness  on  the  Mississippi,  and 
which  had  been  rotting  at  the  levees  in  New 
Orleans,  when  Van  Antwerp  had  chartered  it  to 
carry  tools  and  machinery  to  the  mines  and  to 
serve  as  a  private  launch  for  himself.  It  was  a 
3 


34  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

choice  either  of  this  steamer  and  landing  in  a 
small  boat,  or  riding  along  the  line  of  the  unfin 
ished  railroad  on  horseback.  Either  route  con 
sumed  six  valuable  hours,  and  Clay,  who  was 
anxious  to  see  his  new  field  of  action,  beat  im 
patiently  upon  the  rail  of  the  rolling  tub  as  it 
wallowed  in  the  sea. 

lie  spent  the  first  three  days  after  his  arrival 
at  the  mines  in  the  mountains,  climbing  them  on 
foot  and  skirting  their  base  on  horseback,  and 
sleeping  where  night  overtook  him.  Van  Ant 
werp  did  not  accompany  him  on  his  tour  of 
inspection  through  the  mines,  but  delegated  that 
duty  to  an  engineer  named  MacWilliams,  and  to 
Weimcr,  the  United  States  Consul  at  Valencia, 
who  had  served  the  company  in  many  ways  and 
who  was  in  its  closest  confidence. 

For  three  days  the  men  toiled  heavily  over 
fallen  trunks  and  trees,  slippery  with  the  moss 
of  centuries,  or  slid  backward  on  the  rolling 
stones  in  the  waterways,  or  clung  to  their 
ponies'  backs  to  dodge  the  hanging  creepers. 
At  times  for  hours  together  they  walked  in 
single  file,  bent  nearly  double,  and  seeing  noth 
ing  before  them  but  the  shining  backs  and  shoul 
ders  of  the  negroes  who  hacked  out  the  way  for 
them  to  go.  And  again  they  would  come  sud 
denly  upon  a  precipice,  and  drink  in  the  soft 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  35 

cool  breath  of  the  ocean,  and  look  down  thou 
sands  of  feet  upon  the  impenetrable  green  under 
which  they  had  been  crawling,  out  to  where  it 
met  the  sparkling  surface  of  the  Caribbean  Sea. 
It  was  three  days  of  unceasing  activity  while  the 
sun  shone,  and  of  anxious  questionings  around 
the  camp-fire  when  the  darkness  fell,  and  when 
there  were  no  sounds  on  the  mountain-side  but 
that  of  falling  water  in  a  distant  ravine  or  the 
calls  of  the  night-birds. 

On  the  morning  of  the  fourth  day  Clay  and 
his  attendants  returned  to  camp  and  rode  to 
where  the  men  had  just  begun  to  blast  away  the 
sloping  surface  of  the  mountain. 

As  Clay  passed  between  the  zinc  sheds  and 
palm  huts  of  the  soldier-workmen,  they  came 
running  out  to  meet  him,  and  one,  who  seemed 
to  be  a  leader,  touched  his  bridle,  and  with  his 
straw  sombrero  in  his  hand  begged  for  a  word 
with  cl  Scnor  the  Director. 

The  news  of  Clay's  return  had  reached  the 
opening,  and  the  throb  of  the  dummy-engines 
an; I  the  roar  of  the  blasting  ceased  as  the 
assistant-engineers  came  down  the  valley  to 
greet  the  new  manager.  They  found  him 
seated  on  his  horse  gazing  ahead  of  him,  and 
listening  to  the  story  of  the  soldier,  whose 
fingers,  as  he  spoke,  trembled  in  the  air,  with 


36  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

all  the  grace  and  passion  of  his  Southern  na 
ture,  while  back  of  him  his  companions  stood 
humbly,  in  a  silent  chorus,  with  eager,  suppli 
cating  eyes.  Clay  answered  the  man's  speech 
curtly,  with  a  few  short  words,  in  the  Spanish 
patois  in  which  he  had  been  addressed,  and  then 
turned  and  smiled  grimly  upon  the  expectant 
group  of  engineers.  He  kept  them  waiting  for 
some  short  space,  while  he  looked  them  over 
carefully,  as  though  he  had  never  seen  them 
before. 

"Well,  gentlemen,"  he  said,  "I'm  glad  to 
have  you  here  all  together.  I  am  only  sorry 
you  didn't  come  in  time  to  hear  what  this  fellow 
has  had  to  say.  I  don't  as  a  rule  listen  that 
long  to  complaints,  but  he  told  me  what  I  have 
seen  for  myself  and  what  has  been  told  me  by 
others.  I  have  been  here  three  days  now,  and  I 
assure  you,  gentlemen,  that  my  easiest  course 
would  be  to  pack  up  my  things  and  go  home  on 
the  next  steamer.  I  was  sent  down  here  to  take 
charge  of  a  mine  in  active  operation,  and  I  find — 
what  ?  I  find  that  in  six  months  you  have  done 
almost  nothing,  and  that  the  little  you  have  con 
descended  to  do  has  been  done  so  badly  that  it 
will  have  to  be  done  over  again  ;  that  you  have 
not  only  wasted  a  half  year  of  time  —  and  1  can't 
tell  how  much  money  —  but  that  you  have  sue- 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  37 

ceeded  in  antagonizing  all  the  people  on  whose 
good-will  we  are  absolutely  dependent;  you 
have  allowed  your  machinery  to  rust  in  the  rain, 
and  your  workmen  to  rot  with  sickness.  You 
have  not  only  done  nothing,  but  you  have  n't  a 
blue  print  to  show  me  what  you  meant  to  do. 
I  have  never  in  my  life  come  across  laziness  and 
mismanagement  and  incornpetency  upon  such  a 
magnificent  and  reckless  scale.  You  have  not 
built  the  pier,  you  have  not  opened  the  freight 
road,  you  have  not  taken  out  an  ounce  of  ore. 
You  know  more  of  Valencia  than  you  know  of 
these  mines;  you  kno\\r  it  from  the  Alameda  to 
the  Canal.  You  can  tell  me  what  night  the 
band  plays  in  the  Plaza,  but  you  can't  give  me 
the  elevation  of  one  of  these  hills.  You  have 
spent  your  days  on  the  pavements  in  front  of 
cafe's,  and  your  nights  in  dance-halls,  and  you 
have  been  drawing  salaries  every  month.  I  've 
more  respect  for  these  half  -breeds  that  you've 
allowed  to  starve  in  this  fever-bed  than  I  have 
for  you.  You  have  treated  them  worse  than 
they'd  treat  a  dog,  and  if  any  of  them  die,  it's 
on  your  heads.  You  have  put  them  in  a  fever- 
camp  which  you  have  not  even  taken  the  trouble 
to  drain.  Your  commissariat  is  rotten,  and  you 
have  let  them  drink  all  the  rum  they  wanted. 
There  is  not  one  of  you  —  " 


38  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

The  group  of  silent  men  broke,  and  one  of 
them  stepped  forward  and  shook  his  forefinger 
at  Clay. 

"  No  man  can  talk  to  me  like  that,"  he  said, 
warningly,  "  and  think  I  '11  work  under  him.  I 
resign  here  and  now." 

"  You  what — "  cried  Clay,  "you  resign  ?" 

He  whirled  his  horse  round  with  a  dig  of  his 
spur  and  faced  them.  "  How  dare  you  talk  of 
resigning  ?  I  '11  pack  the  whole  lot  of  you  hack 
to  New  York  on  the  first  steamer,  if  I  want  to, 
and  I  '11  give  you  such  characters  that  you  '11  be 
glad  to  get  a  job  carrying  a  transit.  You  're  in 
no  position  to  talk  of  resigning  yet  —  not  one 
of  you.  Yes,"  he  added,  interrupting  himself, 
"  one  of  you  is  Mac  Williams,  the  man  who  had 
charge  of  the  railroad.  It 's  no  fault  of  his  that 
the  road  's  not  working.  I  understand  that  he 
could  n't  get  the  right  of  way  from  the  people 
who  owned  the  land,  but  I  have  seen  what  he 
has  done,  and  his  plans,  and  I  apologize  to  him 
—  to  MacWilliams.  As  for  the  rest  of  you,  I  '11 
give  you  a  month's  trial.  It  will  be  a  month  be 
fore  the  next  steamer  could  get  here  anyway,  and 
I  '11  give  you  that  long  to  redeem  yourselves.  At 
the  end  of  that  time  we  will  have  another  talk, 
but  you  are  here  now  only  on  your  good  behavior 
and  on  my  sufferance.  Good-morning." 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  89 

As  Clay  had  boasted,  he  was  not  the  man  to 
throw  up  his  position  because  he  found  the  part 
he  had  to  play  was  not  that  of  leading  man,  but 
rather  one  of  general  utility,  and  although  it 
had  been  several  years  since  it  had  been  part  of 
his  duties  to  oversee  the  setting  up  of  ma 
chinery,  and  the  policing  of  a  mining  camp,  he 
threw  himself  as  earnestly  into  the  work  before 
him  as  though  to  show  his  subordinates  that  it 
did  not  matter  who  did  the  work,  so  long  as  it 
was  done.  The  men  at  first  were  sulky,  resent 
ful,  and  suspicious,  but  they  could  not  long 
resist  the  fact  that  Clay  was  doing  the  work  of 
five  men  and  five  different  kinds  of  work,  not 
only  without  grumbling,  but  apparently  with  the 
keenest  pleasure.  He  conciliated  the  rich  cof 
fee  planters  who  owned  the  land  which  he 
wanted  for  the  freight  road  by  calls  of  the  most 
formal  state  and  dinners  of  much  less  formality, 
for  he  saw  that  the  iron  mine  had  its  social  as 
well  as  its  political  side.  And  with  this  fact  in 
mind,  he  opened  the  railroad  with  great  cere 
mony,  and  much  music  and  feasting,  and  the 
first  piece  of  ore  taken  out  of  the  mine  was  pre 
sented  to  the  wife  of  the  Minister  of  the  Inte 
rior  in  a  cluster  of  diamonds,  which  made  the 
wives  of  the  other  members  of  the  Cabinet 
regret  that  their  husbands  had  not  chosen  that 


40  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

portfolio.  Six  months  followed  of  hard,  unre 
mitting  work,  during  which  time  the  great  pier 
grew  out  into  the  bay  from  Mac  Williams'  rail 
road,  and  the  face  of  the  first  mountain  was 
scarred  and  torn  of  its  green,  and  left  in  man 
gled  nakedness,  while  the  ringing  of  hammers 
and  picks,  and  the  racking  blasts  of  dynamite, 
and  the  warning  whistles  of  the  dummy-engines 
drove  away  the  accumulated  silence  of  centuries. 
It  had  been  a  long  uphill  fight,  and  Clay  had 
enjoyed  it  mightily.  Two  unexpected  events 
had  contributed  to  help  it.  One  was  the  arrival 
in  Valencia  of  young  Teddy  Langham,  who 
came  ostensibly  to  learn  the  profession  of  which 
Clay  was  so  conspicuous  an  example,  and  in 
reality  to  watch  over  his  father's  interests.  He 
was  put  at  Clay's  elbow,  and  Clay  made  him 
learn  in  spite  of  himself,  for  he  ruled  him  and 
Mac  Williams,  of  both  of  whom  he  was  very 
fond,  as  though,  so  they  complained,  they  were 
the  laziest  and  the  most  rebellious  members  of 
his  entire  staff.  The  second  event  of  impor 
tance  was  the  announcement  made  one  day  by 
young  Langham  that  his  father's  physician  had 
ordered  rest  in  a  mild  climate,  and  that  he  and 
his  daughters  were  coming  in  a  month  to  spend 
the  winter  in  Valencia,  and  to  see  how  the  son 
and  heir  had  developed  as  a  man  of  business. 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  41 

The  idea  of  Mr.  Langham's  coming  to  visit 
Olancho  to  inspect  his  new  possessions  was  not 
a  surprise  to  Clay.  It  had  occurred  to  him  as 
possible  before,  especially  after  the  son  had 
come  to  join  them  there.  The  place  was  inter 
esting  and  beautiful  enough  in  itself  to  justify  a 
visit,  and  it  was  only  a  ten  days'  voyage  from 
New  York.  But  he  had  never  considered  the 
chance  of  Miss  Langham's  coming,  and  when 
that  was  now  not  only  possible  but  a  certainty, 
he  dreamed  of  little  else.  He  lived  as  earnestly 
and  toiled  as  indefatigably  as  before,  but  the 
place  was  utterly  transformed  for  him.  He 
saw  it  now  as  she  would  see  it  when  she  came, 
even  while  at  the  same  time  his  own  eyes 
retained  their  point  of  view.  It  was  as  though 
he  had  lengthened  the  focus  of  a  glass,  and 
looked  beyond  at  what  was  beautiful  and 
picturesque,  instead  of  what  was  near  at  hand 
and  practicable.  He  found  himself  smiling 
with  anticipation  of  her  pleasure  in  the  orchids 
hanging  from  the  dead  trees,  high  above  the 
opening  of  the  mine,  and  in  the  parrots  hurling 
themselves  like  gayly  colored  missiles  among 
the  vines;  and  he  considered  the  harbor  at 
night  with  its  colored  lamps  floating  on  the 
black  water  as  a  scene  set  for  her  eyes.  He 
planned  the  dinners  that  he  would  give  in  her 


42  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

honor  on  the  balcony  of  the  great  restaurant  in 
the  Plaza  on  those  nights  when  the  band 
played,  and  the  senoritas  circled  in  long  lines 
between  admiring  rows  of  officers  and  cabal- 
leros.  And  he  imagined  how,  when  the  ore- 
boats  had  been  filled  and  his  work  had  slack 
ened,  he  would  be  free  to  ride  with  her  along 
the  rough  mountain  roads,  between  magnifi 
cent  pillars  of  royal  palms,  or  to  venture  forth 
in  excursions  down  the  bay,  to  explore  the 
caves  and  to  lunch  on  board  the  rolling  paddle- 
wheel  steamer,  which  he  would  have  repainted 
and  gilded  for  her  coming.  He  pictured  him 
self  acting  as  her  guide  over  the  great  mines, 
answering  her  simple  questions  about  the 
strange  machinery,  and  the  crew  of  workmen, 
and  the  local  government  by  which  he  ruled 
two  thousand  men.  It  was  not  on  account  of 
any  personal  pride  in  the  mines  that  he  wanted 
her  to  see  them,  it  was  not  because  he  had  dis 
covered  and  planned  and  opened  them  that  he 
wished  to  show  them  to  her,  but  as  a  curious 
spectacle  that  he  hoped  would  give  her  a 
moment's  interest. 

But  his  keenest  pleasure  was  when  young 
Langham  suggested  that  they  should  build  a 
house  for  his  people  on  the  edge  of  the  hill  that 
jutted  out  over  the  harbor  and  the  great  ore 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  43 

pier.  If  this  were  done,  Langham  urged,  it 
would  be  possible  for  him  to  see  much  more  of 
his  family  than  he  would  be  able  to  do  were 
they  installed  in  the  city,  five  miles  away. 

"  We  can  still  live  in  the  office  at  this  end  of 
the  railroad,''  the  boy  said,  "and  then  we  shall 
have  them  within  call  at  night  when  we  get 
back  from  work;  but  if  they  are  in  Valencia, 
it  will  take  the  greater  part  of  the  evening 
going  there  and  all  of  the  night  getting  back, 
for  I  can't  pass  that  club  under  three  hours.  It 
will  keep  us  out  of  temptation." 

"Yes,  exactly,"  said  Clay,  with  a  guilty 
smile,  "it  will  keep  us  out  of  temptation." 

So  they  cleared  away  the  underbrush,  and 
put  a  double  force  of  men  to  work  on  what  was 
to  be  the  most  beautiful  and  comfortable  bunga 
low  on  the  edge  of  the  harbor.  It  had  blue  and 
green  and  white  tiles  on  the  floors,  and  walls 
of  bamboo,  and  a  red  roof  of  curved  tiles  to  let 
in  the  air,  and  dragons'  heads  for  water-spouts, 
and  verandas  as  broad  as  the  house  itself. 
There  was  an  open  court  in  the  middle  hung 
with  balconies  looking  down  upon  a  splashing 
fountain,  and  to  decorate  this  patio,  they  levied 
upon  people  for  miles  around  for  tropical  plants 
and  colored  mats  and  awnings.  They  cut  down 
the  trees  that  hid  the  view  of  the  long  harbor 


44  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

leading  from  the  sea  into  Valencia,  and  planted 
a  rampart  of  other  trees  to  hide  the  iron-ore 
pier,  and  they  sodded  the  raw  spots  where  the 
men  had  been  building,  until  the  place  was  as 
completely  transformed  as  though  a  fairy  had 
waved  her  wand  above  it. 

It  was  to  be  a  great  surprise,  and  they  were 
all  —  Clay,  MacWilliams,  and  Langham  —  as 
keenly  interested  in  it  as  though  each  were 
preparing  it  for  his  honeymoon.  They  would 
be  walking  together  in  Valencia  when  one 
would  say,  "  We  ought  to  have  that  for  the 
house,"  and  without  question  they  would  march 
into  the  shop  together  and  order  whatever  they 
fancied  to  be  sent  out  to  the  house  of  the  presi 
dent  of  the  mines  on  the  hill.  They  stocked  it 
with  wine  and  linens,  and  hired  a  volante  and 
six  horses,  and  fitted  out  the  driver  with  a  new 
pair  of  boots  that  reached  above  his  knees,  and 
a  silver  jacket  and  a  sombrero  that  was  so 
heavy  with  braid  that  it  flashed  like  a  halo 
about  his  head  in  the  sunlight,  and  he  was 
ordered  not  to  wear  it  until  the  ladies  came, 
under  penalty  of  arrest.  It  delighted  Clay  to 
find  that  it  was  only  the  beautiful  things  and 
the  fine  things  of  his  daily  routine  that  sug 
gested  her  to  him,  as  though  she  could  not  be 
associated  in  his  mind  with  anything  less 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  45 

worthy,  and  he  kept  saying  to  himself,  "She 
will  like  this  view  from  the  end  of  the  terrace," 
and  "This  will  be  her  favorite  walk,"  or  "She 
will  swing  her  hammock  here,"  and  "I  know 
she  will  not  fancy  the  rug  that  Weimer  chose. " 

While  this  fairy  palace  was  growing  the  three 
men  lived  as  roughly  as  before  in  the  wooden 
hut  at  the  terminus  of  the  freight  road,  three 
hundred  yards  below  the  house,  and  hidden 
from  it  by  an  impenetrable  rampart  of  brush 
and  Spanish  bayonet.  There  was  a  rough  road 
leading  from  it  to  the  city,  five  miles  away, 
which  they  had  extended  still  farther  up  the 
hill  to  the  Palms,  which  was  the  name  Langham 
had  selected  for  his  father's  house.  And  when 
it  was  finally  finished,  they  continued  to  live 
under  the  corrugated  zinc  roof  of  their  office 
building,  and  locking  up  the  Palms,  left  it  in 
charge  of  a  gardener  and  a  watchman  until  the 
coming  of  its  rightful  owners. 

It  had  been  a  viciously  hot,  close  day,  and 
even  now  the  air  came  in  sickening  waves,  like 
a  blast  from  the  engine-room  of  a  steamer,  and 
the  heat  lightning  played  round  the  mountains 
over  the  harbor  and  showed  the  empty  wharves, 
and  the  black  outlines  of  the  steamers,  and  the 
white  front  of  the  Custom-House,  and  the  long 
half-circle  of  twinkling  lamps  along  the  quay. 


46  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

MacWilliams  and  Laugham  sat  panting  on  the 
lower  steps  of  the  office-porch  considering 
whether  they  were  too  lazy  to  clean  themselves 
and  be  rowed  over  to  the  city,  where,  as  it 
was  Sunday  night,  was  promised  much  enter 
tainment.  They  had  been  for  the  last  hour 
trying  to  make  up  their  minds  as  to  this,  and 
appealing  to  Clay  to  stop  work  and  decide  for 
them.  But  he  sat  inside  at  a  table  figuring 
and  writing  under  the  green  shade  of  a  student's 
lamp  and  made  no  answer.  The  walls  of  Clay's 
office  were  of  unplancd  boards,  bristling  with 
splinters,  and  hung  with  blue  prints  and  outline 
maps  of  the  mine.  A  gaudily  colored  portrait 
of  Madame  la  Prcsidanta,  the  noble  and  beau 
tiful  woman  whom  Alvarez,  the  President  of 
Olancho,  had  lately  married  in  Spain,  was 
pinned  to  the  wall  above  the  table.  This  table, 
with  its  green  oil-cloth  top,  and  the  lamp, 
about  which  winged  insects  beat  noisily,  and 
an  earthen  water-jar  —  from  which  the  water 
dripped  as  regularly  as  the  ticking  of  a  clock 
-  were  the  only  articles  of  furniture  in  the 
office.  On  a  shelf  at  one  side  of  the  door  lay 
the  men's  machetes,  a  belt  of  cartridges,  and  a 
revolver  in  a  holster. 

Clay  rose  from  the  table  and   stood   in  the 
light   of    the    open    door,    stretching    himself 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  47 

gingerly,  for  his  joints  were  sore  and  stiff  with 
fording  streams  and  climbing  the  surfaces  of 
rocks.  The  red  ore  and  yellow  mud  of  the 
mines  were  plastered  over  his  boots  and  riding- 
breeches,  where  he  had  stood  knee-deep  in  the 
water,  and  his  shirt  stuck  to  him  like  a  wet 
bathing-suit,  showing  his  ribs  when  he  breathed 
and  the  curves  of  his  broad  chest.  A  ring  of 
burning  paper  and  hot  ashes  fell  from  his 
cigarette  to  his  breast  and  burnt  a  hole  through 
the  cotton  shirt,  and  he  let  it  lie  there  and 
watched  it  burn  with  a  grim  smile. 

"I  wanted  to  see,"  he  explained,  catching 
the  look  of  listless  curiosity  in  MacWilliams's 
eye,  "whether  there  was  anything  hotter  than 
my  blood.  It 's  racing  around  like  boiling 
water  in  a  pot." 

"Listen,"  said  Langham,  holding  up  his 
hand.  "  There  goes  the  call  for  prayers  in  the 
convent,  and  now  it 's  too  late  to  go  to  town. 
I  am  glad,  rather.  I  'm  too  tired  to  keep 
awake,  and  besides,  they  don't  know  how  to 
amuse  themselves  in  a  civilized  way  —  at  least 
not  in  my  way.  I  wish  I  could  just  drop  in  at 
home  about  now;  don't  you,  MacWilliams  ? 
Just  about  this  time  up  in  God's  country  all 
the  people  are  at  the  theatre,  or  they  'vc  just 
finished  dinner  and  are  sitting  around  sipping 


48  SOLDI EH S   OF  FORTUNE 

cool  green  mint,  trickling  through  little  lumps 
of  ice.  What  I  'd  like  — •  "  he  stopped  and  shut 
one  eye  and  gazed,  with  his  head  on  one  side,  at 
the  unimaginative  Mac  Williams  —  "what  I'd 
like  to  do  now,"  he  continued,  thoughtfully, 
"would  be  to  sit  in  the  front  row  at  a  comic 
opera,  on  the  aisle.  The  prima  donna  must  he 
very,  very  beautiful,  and  sing  most  of  her  songs 
at  me,  and  there  must  be  three  comedians,  all 
good,  and  a  chorus  entirely  composed  of  girls. 
I  never  could  see  why  they  have  men  in  the 
chorus,  anyway.  No  one  ever  looks  at  them. 
Now  that 's  where  I  'd  like  to  be.  What  would 
you  like,  MacWilliams  ?  " 

MacWilliams  was  a  type  with  which  Clay 
was  intimately  familiar,  but  to  the  college-bred 
Langham  he  was  a  revelation  and  a  joy.  He 
came  from  some  little  town  in  the  West,  and 
had  learned  what  he  knew  of  engineering  at  the 
transit's  mouth,  after  he  had  first  served  his 
apprenticeship  by  cutting  sage-brush  and  driv 
ing  stakes.  His  life  had  been  spent  in  Mexico 
and  Central  America,  and  he  spoke  of  the  home 
he  had  not  seen  in  ten  years,  with  the  aggres 
sive  loyalty  of  the  confirmed  wanderer,  and  lie 
was  known  to  prefer  and  to  import  canned  corn 
and  canned  tomatoes  in  preference  to  eating  the 
wonderful  fruits  of  the  country,  because  the 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  49 

former  came  from  the  States  and  tasted  to  him 
of  home.  He  had  crowded  into  his  young  life 
experiences  that  would  have  shattered  the 
nerves  of  any  other  man  with  a  more  sensitive 
conscience  and  a  less  happy  sense  of  humor; 
but  these  same  experiences  had  only  served  to 
make  him  shrewd  and  self-confident  and  at  his 
ease  when  the  occasion  or  difficulty  came. 

He  pulled  meditatively  on  his  pipe  and  con 
sidered  Langham's  question  deeply,  while  Clay 
and  the  younger  boy  sat  with  their  arms  upon 
their  knees  and  waited  for  his  decision  in 
thoughtful  silence. 

"I'd  like  to  go  to  the  theatre,  too,"  said 
Mac  Williams,  with  an  air  as  though  to  show 
that  he  also  was  possessed  of  artistic  tastes. 
"I  'd  like  to  see  a  comical  chap  I  saw  once  in 
'80  —  oh,  long  ago  —  before  I  joined  the  P.  Q. 
&  M.  He  ivas  funny.  His  name  was  Owens ; 
that  was  his  name,  John  B.  Owens — •" 

"Oh,  for  heaven's  sake,  MacWilliams,"  pro 
tested  Langham,  in  dismay;  "he's  been  dead 
for  five  years. " 

"Has he?"  said  MacWilliams,  thoughtfully. 
"  Well  —  "  he  concluded,  unabashed,  "  I  can't 
help  that,  he  's  the  one  I  'd  like  to  see  best. " 

"You   can    have   another   wish,     Mac,    you 
know,"  urged  Langham,   "can't  he,   Clay?" 
4 


50  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

Clay  nodded  gravely,  and  MacWilliams 
frowned  again  in  thought.  "No,"  he  said 
after  an  effort,  "Owens,  John  E.  Owens;  that 's 
the  one  1  want  to  see. " 

"Well,  now  I  want  another  wish,  too,"  said 
Langham.  "  I  move  we  can  each  have  two 
wishes.  I  wish  —  " 

"Wait  until  I've  had  mine,"  said  Clay. 
"You've  had  one  turn.  I  want  to  be  in  a 
place  I  know  in  Vienna.  It 's  not  hot  like  this, 
but  cool  and  fresh.  It 's  an  open,  out-of-door 
concert-garden,  with  hundreds  of  colored  lights 
and  trees,  and  there  's  always  a  breeze  coming 
through.  And  Eduard  Strauss,  the  son,  you 
know,  leads  the  orchestra  there,  and  they  play 
nothing  but  waltzes,  and  he  stands  in  front  of 
them,  and  begins  by  raising  himself  on  his 
toes,  and  then  he  lifts  his  shoulders  gently  — 
and  then  sinks  back  again  and  raises  his  baton 
as  though  he  were  drawing  the  music  out  after 
it,  and  the  whole  place  seems  to  rock  and 
move.  It 's  like  being  picked  up  and  carried 
on  the  deck  of  a  yacht  over  great  waves ;  and 
all  around  you  are  the  beautiful  Viennese 
women  and  those  tall  Austrian  officers  in  their 
long,  blue  coats  and  flat  hats  and  silver  swords. 
And  there  are  cool  drinks  —  "  continued  Clay, 
with  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  coming  storm  — •  "  all 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  51 

sorts  of  cool  drinks  —  in  high,  thin  glasses, 
full  of  ice,  all  the  ice  you  want  — 

"  Oh,  drop  it,  will  you  ? "  cried  Langham, 
with  a  shrug  of  his  damp  shoulders.  "  I  can't 
stand  it,  I  'in  parching. " 

"  Wait  a  minute,"  interrupted  MacWilliams, 
leaning  forward  and  looking  into  the  night. 
"Some  one's  coming."  There  was  a  sound 
down  the  road  of  hoofs  and  the  rattle  of  the 
land-crabs  as  they  scrambled  off  into  the  bushes, 
and  two  men  on  horseback  came  suddenly  out 
of  the  darkness  and  drew  rein  in  the  light 
from  the  open  door.  The  first  was  General 
Mendoza,  the  leader  of  the  opposition  in  the 
Senate,  and  the  other,  his  orderly.  The  Gen 
eral  dropped  his  Panama  hat  to  his  knee  and 
bowed  in  the  saddle  three  times. 

"Good-evening,  your  Excellency,"  said  Clay, 
rising.  "Tell  that  peon  to  get  my  coat,  will 
you  ?  "  he  added,  turning  to  Langham.  Lang- 
ham  clapped  his  hands,  and  the  clanging  of  a 
guitar  ceased,  and  their  servant  and  cook  came 
out  from  the  back  of  the  hut  and  held  the 
General's  horse  while  he  dismounted.  "  Wait 
until  I  get  you  a  chair,"  said  Clay.  "You'll 
find  those  steps  rather  bad  for  white  duck." 

"I  am  fortunate  in  finding  you  at  home," 
said  the  officer,  smiling,  and  showing  his  white 


52  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

teeth.  "  The  telephone  is  not  working.  I  tried 
at  the  club,  but  I  could  not  call  you." 

"It 's  the  storm,  I  suppose,"  Clay  answered, 
as  he  struggled  into  his  jacket.  "  Let  me  offer 
you  something  to  drink."  He  entered  the 
house,  and  returned  with  several  bottles  on  a 
tray  and  a  bundle  of  cigars.  The  Spanish- 
American  poured  himself  out  a  glass  of  water, 
mixing  it  with  Jamaica  rum,  and  said,  smil 
ing  again,  "It  is  a  saying  of  your  countrymen 
that  when  a  man  first  comes  to  Olancho  he  puts 
a  little  rum  into  his  water,  and  that  when  he 
is  here  some  time  he  puts  a  little  water  in  his 
rum. " 

"Yes,"  laughed  Clay.  "I'm  afraid  that's 
true." 

There  was  a  pause  while  the  men  sipped  at 
their  glasses,  and  looked  at  the  horses  and  the 
orderly.  The  clanging  of  the  guitar  began 
again  from  the  kitchen.  "You  have  a  very 
beautiful  view  here  of  the  harbor,  yes,"  said 
Mendoza.  He  seemed  to  enjoy  the  pause  after 
his  ride,  and  to  be  in  no  haste  to  begin  on 
the  object  of  his  errand.  MacWilliams  and 
Langham  eyed  each  other  covertly,  and  Clay 
examined  the  end  of  his  cigar,  and  they  all 
waited. 

"  And  how  are  the  mines  progressing,  eh  ? " 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  53 

asked  the  officer,  genially.  "You  find  much 
good  iron  in  them,  they  tell  me." 

"  Yes,  we  are  doing  very  well, "  Clay  assented ; 
"it  was  difficult  at  first,  but  now  that  things 
are  in  working  order,  we  are  getting  out  about 
ten  thousand  tons  a  month.  We  hope  to  in 
crease  that  soon  to  twenty  thousand  when  the 
new  openings  are  developed  and  our  shipping 
facilities  are  in  better  shape." 

"  So  much ! "  exclaimed  the  General,  pleas 
antly.  "Of  which  the  Government  of  my 
country  is  to  get  its  share  of  ten  per  cent  —  one 
thousand  tons  !  It  is  munificent ! "  He  laughed 
and  shook  his  head  slyly  at  Clay,  who  smiled 
in  dissent. 

"But  you  see,  sir,"  said  Clay,  "you  cannot 
blame  us.  The  mines  have  always  been  there, 
before  this  Government  came  in,  before  the 
Spaniards  were  here,  before  there  was  any 
Government  at  all,  but  there  was  not  the  capital 
to  open  them  up,  I  suppose,  or  —  and  it  needed 
a  certain  energy  to  begin  the  attack.  Your 
people  let  the  chance  go,  and,  as  it  turned  out, 
I  think  they  were  very  wise  in  doing  so.  They 
get  ten  per  cent  of  the  output.  That 's  ten  per 
cent  on  nothing,  for  the  mines  really  did  n't 
exist,  as  far  as  you  were  concerned,  until  we 
came,  did  they  ?  They  were  just  so  much  waste 


54  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

land,  and  they  would  have  remained  so.  And 
look  at  the  price  we  paid  down  before  we  cut  a 
tree.  Three  millions  of  dollars ;  that 's  a  good 
deal  of  money.  It  will  be  some  time  before  we 
realize  anything  on  that  investment." 

Mendoza  shook  his  head  and  shrugged  his 
shoulders.  "I  will  be  frank  with  you,"  he 
said,  with  the  air  of  one  to  whom  dissimulation 
is  difficult.  "I  come  here  to-night  on  an  un 
pleasant  errand,  but  it  is  with  me  a  matter  of 
duty,  and  I  am  a  soldier,  to  whom  duty  is  the 
foremost  ever.  I  have  come  to  tell  you,  Mr. 
Clay,  that  we,  the  Opposition,  are  not  satisfied 
with  the  manner  in  which  the  Government  has 
disposed  of  these  great  iron  deposits.  When  I 
say  not  satisfied,  my  dear  friend,  I  speak  most 
moderately.  I  should  say  that  we  are  surprised 
and  indignant,  and  we  are  determined  the 
wrong  it  has  done  our  country  shall  be  righted. 
I  have  the  honor  to  have  been  chosen  to  speak 
for  our  party  on  this  most  important  question, 
and  on  next  Tuesday,  sir,"  the  General  stood 
up  and  bowed,  as  though  he  were  before  a  great 
assembly,  "I  will  rise  in  the  Senate  and  move 
a  vote  of  want  of  confidence  in  the  Government 
for  the  manner  in  which  it  has  given  away  the 
richest  possessions  in  the  storehouse  of  my 
country,  giving  it  not  only  to  aliens,  but  for  a 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  55 

pittance,  for  a  share  which  is  not  a  share,  but 
a  bribe,  to  blind  the  eyes  of  the  people.  It 
has  been  a  shameful  bargain,  and  I  cannot  say 
who  is  to  blame ;  I  accuse  no  one.  But  I  sus 
pect,  and  I  will  demand  an  investigation;  I 
will  demand  that  the  value  not  of  one-tenth, 
but  of  one-half  of  all  the  iron  that  your  com 
pany  takes  out  of  Olancho  shall  be  paid  into  the 
treasury  of  the  State.  And  I  come  to  you  to 
night,  as  the  Resident  Director,  to  inform  you 
beforehand  of  my  intention.  I  do  not  wish  to 
take  you  unprepared.  I  do  not  blame  your 
people ;  they  are  business  men,  they  know  how 
to  make  good  bargains,  they  get  what  they  best 
can.  That  is  the  rule  of  trade,  but  they  have 
gone  too  far,  and  I  advise  you  to  communicate 
with  your  people  in  New  York  and  learn  what 
they  are  prepared  to  offer  now  —  now  that  they 
have  to  deal  with  men  who  do  not  consider 
their  own  interests  but  the  interests  of  their 
country. " 

Mendoza  made  a  sweeping  bow  and  seated 
himself,  frowning  dramatically,  with  folded 
arms.  His  voice  still  hung  in  the  air,  for  he 
had  spoken  as  earnestly  as  though  he  imagined 
himself  already  standing  in  the  hall  of  the 
Senate  championing  the  cause  of  the  people. 

MacWilliams  looked  up  at  Clay  from  where 


56  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

he  sat  on  the  steps  below  him,  but  Clay  did 
not  notice  him,  and  there  was  no  sound,  except 
the  quick  sputtering  of  the  nicotine  in  Lang- 
ham's  pipe,  at  which  he  pulled  quickly,  and 
which  was  the  only  outward  sign  the  boy  gave 
of  his  interest.  Clay  shifted  one  muddy  boot 
over  the  other  and  leaned  back  with  his  hands 
stuck  in  his  belt. 

"Why  didn't  you  speak  of  this  sooner  ?  "  he 
asked. 

"Ah,  yes,  that  is  fair,"  said  the  General, 
quickly.  "I  know  that  it  is  late,  and  I  regret 
it,  and  I  see  that  we  cause  you  inconvenience; 
but  how  could  I  speak  sooner  when  I  was 
ignorant  of  what  was  going  on  ?  I  have  been 
away  with  my  troops.  I  am  a  soldier  first,  a 
politician  after.  During  the  last  year  I  have 
been  engaged  in  guarding  the  frontier.  No 
news  comes  to  a  General  in  the  field  moving 
from  camp  to  camp  and  always  in  the  saddle; 
but  I  may  venture  to  hope,  sir,  that  news  has 
come  to  you  of  me  ? " 

Clay  pressed  his  lips  together  and  bowed  his 
head. 

"  We  have  heard  of  your  victories,  General, 
yes,"  he  said;  "and  on  your  return  you  say 
you  found  things  had  not  been  going  to  your 
liking  ?  " 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  57 

"That  is  it,"  assented  the  other,  eagerly. 
"I  find  that  indignation  reigns  on  every  side. 
I  find  my  friends  complaining  of  the  railroad 
which  you  run  across  their  land.  I  find  that 
fifteen  hundred  soldiers  are  turned  into  laborers, 
with  picks  and  spades,  working  by  the  side  of 
negroes  and  your  Irish;  they  have  not  been 
paid  their  wages,  and  they  have  been  fed  worse 
than  though  they  were  on  the  march;  sickness 
and  —  " 

Clay  moved  impatiently  and  dropped  his  boot 
heavily  on  the  porch.  "That  was  true  at 
first,"  he  interrupted,  "but  it  is  not  so  now. 
I  should  be  glad,  General,  to  take  you  over  the 
men's  quarters  at  any  time.  As  for  their  not 
having  been  paid,  they  were  never  paid  by  their 
own  Government  before  they  came  to  us  and 
for  the  same  reason,  because  the  petty  officers 
kept  back  the  money,  just  as  they  have  always 
done.  But  the  men  are  paid  now.  However, 
this  is  not  of  the  most  importance.  Who  is  it 
that  complains  of  the  terms  of  our  concession  ?  " 

"Every  one!"  exclaimed  Mendoza,  throwing 
out  his  arms,  "  and  they  ask,  moreover,  this : 
they  ask  why,  if  this  mine  is  so  rich,  why  was 
not  the  stock  offered  here  to  us  in  this  country  ? 
Why  was  it  not  put  on  the  market,  that  any 
one  might  buy  ?  We  have  rich  men  in  Olancho, 


58  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

why  should  not  they  benefit  first  of  all  others 
by  the  wealth  of  their  own  lands  ?  But  no  !  we 
are  not  asked  to  buy.  All  the  stock  is  taken  in 
New  York,  no  one  benefits  but  the  State,  and  it 
receives  only  ten  per  cent.  It  is  monstrous. " 

"I  see,"  said  Clay,  gravely.  "That  had  not 
occurred  to  me  before.  They  feel  they  have 
been  slighted.  I  see. "  He  paused  for  a  moment 
as  if  in  serious  consideration.  "Well,"  he 
added,  "that  might  be  arranged." 

He  turned  and  jerked  his  head  toward  the 
open  door.  "If  you  boys  mean  to  go  to  town 
to-night,  you'd  better  be  moving,"  he  said. 
The  two  men  rose  together  and  bowed  silently 
to  their  guest. 

"  I  should  like  if  Mr.  Langham  would  remain 
a  moment  with  us,"  said  Mendoza,  politely.  "  I 
understand  that  it  is  his  father  who  controls 
the  stock  of  the  company.  If  we  discuss  any 
arrangement  it  might  be  well  if  he  were  here." 

Clay  was  sitting  with  his  chin  on  his  breast, 
and  he  did  not  look  up,  nor  did  the  young  man 
turn  to  him  for  any  prompting.  "  I  'm  not 
down  here  as  my  father's  son,"  he  said,  "I  am 
an  employee  of  Mr.  Clay's.  He  represents  the 
company.  Good-night,  sir." 

"You  think,  then,"  said  Clay,  "that  if  your 
friends  were  given  an  opportunity  to  subscribe 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  59 

to  the  stock  they  would  feel  less  resentful 
toward  us  ?  They  would  think  it  was  fairer  to 
all  ?  " 

"I  know  it,"  said  Mendoza;  "why  should 
the  stock  go  out  of  the  country  when  those 
living  here  are  able  to  buy  it  ? " 

"Exactly,"  said  Clay,  "of  course.  Can  you 
tell  me  this,  General  ?  Are  the  gentlemen  who 
want  to  buy  stock  in  the  mine  the  same  men 
who  are  in  the  Senate  ?  The  men  who  are 
objecting  to  the  terms  of  our  concession  ?  " 

"With  a  few  exceptions  they  are  the  same 
men. " 

Clay  looked  out  over  the  harbor  at  the  lights 
of  the  town,  and  the  General  twirled  his  hat 
around  his  knee  and  gazed  with  appreciation  at 
the  stars  above  him. 

"Because  if  they  are,"  Clay  continued,  "and 
they  succeed  in  getting  our  share  cut  down 
from  ninety  per  cent  to  fifty  per  cent,  they 
must  see  that  the  stock  would  be  worth  just 
forty  per  cent  less  than  it  is  now." 

"That  is  true,"  assented  the  other.  "I  have 
thought  of  that,  and  if  the  Senators  in  Opposi 
tion  were  given  a  chance  to  subscribe,  I  am 
sure  they  would  see  that  it  is  better  wisdom  to 
drop  their  objections  to  the  concession,  and  as 
stockholders  allow  you  to  keep  ninety  per  cent 


60  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

of  the  output.  And,  again,"  continued  Men- 
doza,  "  it  is  really  better  for  the  country  that 
the  money  should  go  to  its  people  than  that  it 
should  be  stored  up  in  the  vaults  of  the  treasury, 
when  there  is  always  the  danger  that  the  Presi 
dent  will  seize  it;  or,  if  not  this  one,  the  next 
one." 

"  I  should  think  —  that  is  —  it  seems  to  me," 
said  Clay  with  careful  consideration,  "that 
your  Excellency  might  be  able  to  render  us 
great  help  in  this  matter  yourself.  We  need  a 
friend  among  the  Opposition.  In  fact  —  I  see 
where  you  could  assist  us  in  many  ways,  where 
your  services  would  be  strictly  in  the  line  of 
your  public  duty  and  yet  benefit  us  very  much. 
Of  course  I  cannot  speak  authoritatively  with 
out  first  consulting  Mr.  Langham;  but  I  should 
think  he  would  allow  you  personally  to  pur 
chase  as  large  a  block  of  the  stock  as  you  could 
wish,  either  to  keep  yourself  or  to  resell  and 
distribute  among  those  of  your  friends  in  Oppo 
sition  where  it  would  do  the  most  good." 

Clay  looked  over  inquiringly  to  where 
Mendoza  sat  in  the  light  of  the  open  door,  and 
the  General  smiled  faintly,  and  emitted  a 
pleased  little  sigh  of  relief.  "Indeed,"  con 
tinued  Clay,  "I  should  think  Mr.  Langham 
might  even  save  you  the  formality  of  purchas- 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  61 

• 

ing  the  stock  outright  by  sending  you  its  money 
equivalent.  I  beg  your  pardon,"  he  asked, 
interrupting  himself,  "  does  your  orderly  under 
stand  English  ? " 

"He  does  not,"  the  General  assured  him, 
eagerly,  dragging  his  chair  a  little  closer. 

"  Suppose  now  that  Mr.  Langham  were  to  put 
fifty  or  let  us  say  sixty  thousand  dollars  to 
your  account  in  the  Valencia  Bank,  do  you 
think  this  vote  of  want  of  confidence  in  the 
Government  on  the  question  of  our  concession 
would  still  be  moved  ?  " 

"I  am  sure  it  would  not,"  exclaimed  the 
leader  of  the  Opposition,  nodding  his  head 
violently. 

"Sixty  thousand  dollars,"  repeated  Clay, 
slowly,  "for  yourself;  and  do  you  think,  Gen 
eral,  that  were  you  paid  that  sum  you  would  be 
able  to  call  off  your  friends,  or  would  they 
make  a  demand  for  stock  also  ?  " 

"Have  no  anxiety  at  all,  they  do  just  what  I 
say,"  returned  Mendoza,  in  an  eager  whisper. 
"If  I  say  '  It  is  all  right,  I  am  satisfied  with 
what  the  Government  has  done  in  my  absence, ' 
it  is  enough.  And  I  will  say  it,  I  give  you  the 
word  of  a  soldier,  I  will  say  it.  I  will  not 
move  a  vote  of  want  of  confidence  on  Tuesday. 
You  need  *go  no  farther  than  myself.  I  am 


62  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

glad  that  I  am  powerful  enough  to  serve  you, 
and  if  you  doubt  me  "  —  he  struck  his  heart  and 
bowed  with  a  deprecatory  smile  —  "you  need 
not  pay  in  the  money  in  exchange  for  the  stock 
all  at  the  same  time.  You  can  pay  ten  thou 
sand  this  year,  and  next  year  ten  thousand 
more  and  so  on,  and  so  feel  confident  that  I 
shall  have  the  interests  of  the  mine  always  in 
my  heart.  Who  knows  what  may  not  happen 
in  a  year  ?  I  may  be  able  to  serve  you  even 
more.  Who  knows  how  long  the  present  Gov 
ernment  will  last  ?  But  I  give  you  my  word  of 
honor,  no  matter  whether  I  be  in  Opposition  or 
at  the  head  of  the  Government,  if  I  receive 
every  six  months  the  retaining  fee  of  which 
you  speak,  I  will  be  your  representative.  And 
my  friends  can  do  nothing.  I  despise  them. 
Jam  the  Opposition.  You  have  done  well,  my 
dear  sir,  to  consider  me  alone." 

Clay  turned  in  his  chair  and  looked  back  of 
him  through  the  office  to  the  room  beyond. 

"Boys,"  he  called,  "you  can  come  out  now." 

He  rose  and  pushed  his  chair  away  and 
beckoned  to  the  orderly  who  sat  in  the  saddle 
holding  the  General's  horse.  Langham  and 
MacWilliams  came  out  and  stood  in  the  open 
door,  and  Mendoza  rose  and  looked  at  Clay. 

"You  can  go  now,"  Clay  said  to  him,  quietly. 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  63 

"And  you  can  rise  in  the  Senate  on  Tuesday 
and  move  your  vote  of  want  of  confidence  and 
object  to  our  concession,  and  when  you  have 
resumed  your  seat  the  Secretary  of  Mines  will 
rise  in  his  turn  and  tell  the  Senate  how  you 
stole  out  here  in  the  night  and  tried  to  black 
mail  me,  and  begged  me  to  bribe  you  to  bo 
silent,  and  that  you  offered  to  throw  over  your 
friends  and  to  take  all  that  we  would  give  you 
and  keep  it  yourself.  That  will  make  you 
popular  with  your  friends,  and  will  show  the 
Government  just  what  sort  of  a  leader  it  has 
working  against  it." 

Clay  took  a  step  forward  and  shook  his  finger 
in  the  officer's  face.  "  Try  to  break  that  con 
cession  ;  try  it.  It  was  made  by  one  Govern 
ment  to  a  body  of  honest,  decent  business  men, 
with  a  Government  of  their  own  back  of  them, 
and  if  you  interfere  with  our  conceded  rights  to 
work  those  mines,  I  '11  have  a  man-of-war  down 
here  with  white  paint  on  her  hull,  and  she  '11 
blow  you  and  your  little  republic  back  up  there 
into  the  mountains.  Now  you  can  go." 

Mendoza  had  straightened  with  surprise  when 
Clay  first  began  to  speak,  and  had  then  bent 
forward  slightly  as  though  he  meant  to  inter 
rupt  him.  His  eyebrows  were  lowered  in  a 
straight  line,  and  his  lips  moved  quickly. 


64  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

"  You  poor  —  "  he  began,  contemptuously. 
"Bah,"  he  exclaimed,  "you're  a  fool;  1  should 
have  sent  a  servant  to  talk  with  you.  You  are 
a  child  —  but  you  are  an  insolent  child,"  he 
cried  suddenly,  his  anger  breaking  out,  "and 
I  shall  punish  you.  You  dare  to  call  me 
names !  You  shall  fight  me,  you  shall  fight  me 
to-morrow.  You  have  insulted  an  officer,  and 
you  shall  meet  me  at  once,  to-morrow." 

"If  I  meet  you  to-morrow,"  Clay  replied,  "I 
will  thrash  you  for  your  impertinence.  The 
only  reason  I  don't  do  it  now  is  because  you 
are  on  my  doorstep.  You  had  better  not  meet 
me  to-morrow,  or  at  any  other  time.  And  I 
have  no  leisure  to  fight  duels  with  anybody." 

"You  arc  a  coward,"  returned  the  other, 
quietly,  "and  I  tell  you  so  before  my  servant." 

Clay  gave  a  short  laugh  and  turned  to 
MacWilliams  in  the  doorway. 

"Hand  me  my  gun,  MacWilliams,"  he  said, 
"it's  on  the  shelf  to  the  right." 

MacWilliams  stood  still  and  shook  his  head. 
"Oh,  let  him  alone,"  he  said.  "You've  got 
him  where  you  want  him." 

"  Give  me  the  gun,  I  tell  you,"  repeated  Clay. 
"  I  'm  not  going  to  hurt  him,  I  'm  only  going  to 
show  him  how  I  can  shoot." 

MacWilliams  moved   grudgingly   across  the 


"NOW  YOU  CAN  GO. 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  65 

porch  and  brought  back  the  revolver  and  handed 
it  to  Clay.  "Look  out  now,"  he  said,  "it's 
loaded." 

At  Clay's  words  the  General  had  retreated 
hastily  to  his  horse's  head  and  had  begun 
unbuckling  the  strap  of  his  holster,  and  the 
orderly  reached  back  into  the  boot  for  his  car 
bine.  Clay  told  him  in  Spanish  to  throw  up 
his  hands,  and  the  man,  with  a  frightened 
look  at  his  officer,  did  as  the  revolver  sug 
gested.  Then  Clay  motioned  with  his  empty 
hand  for  the  other  to  desist.  "Don't  do  that," 
he  said,  "  I  'm  not  going  to  hurt  you ;  I  'm  only 
going  to  frighten  you  a  little." 

He  turned  and  looked  at  the  student  lamp 
inside,  where  it  stood  on  the  table  in  full  view. 
Then  he  raised  his  revolver.  He  did  not 
apparently  hold  it  away  from  him  by  the  butt, 
as  other  men  do,  but  let  it  lie  in  the  palm  of 
his  hand,  into  which  it  seemed  to  fit  like  the 
hand  of  a  friend.  His  first  shot  broke  the  top 
of  the  glass  chimney,  the  second  shattered  the 
green  globe  around  it,  the  third  put  out  the 
light,  and  the  next  drove  the  lamp  crashing  to 
the  floor.  There  was  a  wild  yell  of  terror  from 
the  back  of  the  house,  and  the  noise  of  a  guitar 
falling  down  a  flight  of  steps.  "  I  have  prob 
ably  killed  a  very  good  cook,"  said  Clay,  "as  I 
5 


66  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

should  as  certainly  kill  you,  if  I  were  to  meet 
you.  Langham,"  he  continued,  "go  tell  that 
cook  to  come  back." 

The  General  sprang  into  his  saddle,  and  the 
altitude  it  gave  him  seemed  to  bring  back  some 
of  the  jauntiness  he  had  lost. 

"That  was  very  pretty,"  he  said;  "you  have 
been  a  cowboy,  so  they  tell  me.  It  is  quite 
evident  by  your  manners.  No  matter,  if  we  do 
not  meet  to-morrow  it  will  be  because  I  have 
more  serious  work  to  do.  Two  months  from 
to-day  there  will  be  a  new  Government  in 
Olancho  and  a  new  President,  and  the  mines 
will  have  a  new  director.  I  have  tried  to  be 
your  friend,  Mr.  Clay.  See  how  you  like  me 
for  an  enemy.  Good-night,  gentlemen." 

"Good-night,"  said  Mac  Williams,  unmoved. 
"Please  ask  your  man  to  close  the  gate  after 
you." 

When  the  sound  of  the  hoofs  had  died  away 
the  men  still  stood  in  an  uncomfortable  silence, 
with  Clay  twirling  the  revolver  around  his 
middle  finger.  "I'm  sorry  I  had  to  make  a 
gallery  play  of  that  sort,"  he  said.  "But  it 
was  the  only  way  to  make  that  sort  of  man 
understand." 

Langham  sighed  and  shook  his  head  ruefully. 

"Well,  "he  said,  "I  thought  all  the  trouble 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  67 

was  over,  but  it  looks  to  me  as  though  it  had 
just  begun.  So  far  as  I  can  see  they  're  going 
to  give  the  governor  a  run  for  his  money  yet. " 

Clay  turned  to  MacWilliams. 

"How  many  of  Mendoza's  soldiers  have  we 
in  the  mines,  Mac  ? "  he  asked. 

"About  fifteen  hundred,"  MacWilliams  an 
swered.  "  But  you  ought  to  hear  the  way  they 
talk  of  him. " 

"They  do,  eh?"  said  Clay,  with  a  smile  of 
satisfaction.  "  That 's  good.  '  Six  hundred 
slaves  who  hate  their  masters. '  What  do  they 
say  about  me  ?  " 

"Oh,  they  think  you're  all  right.  They 
know  you  got  them  their  pay  and  all  that. 
They'd  do  a  lot  for  you." 

"  Would  they  fight  for  me  ?  "  asked  Clay. 

MacWilliams  looked  up  and  laughed  uneasily. 
"I  don't  know,"  he  said.  "Why,  old  man? 
What  do  you  mean  to  do  ?  " 

"Oh,  I  don't  know,"  Clay  answered.  "I  was 
just  wondering  whether  I  should  like  to  be 
President  of  Olancho." 


Ill 


THE  Langhams  were  to  arrive  on  Friday,  and 
during  the  week  before  that  day  Clay  went 
about  with  a  long  slip  of  paper  in  his  pocket 
which  he  would  consult  earnestly  in  corners, 
and  upon  which  he  would  note  down  the  things 
that  they  had  left  undone.  At  night  he  would 
sit  staring  at  it  and  turning  it  over  in  much 
concern,  and  would  beg  Langham  to  tell  him 
what  he  could  have  meant  when  he  wrote  "  see 
Weimer,"  or  "clean  brasses,"  or  "S.  Q.  M." 
"  Why  should  I  see  Weimer, "  he  would  ex 
claim,  "and  which  brasses,  and  what  does 
S.  Q.  M.  stand  for,  for  heaven's  sake  ? " 

They  held  a  full-dress  rehearsal  in  the  bunga 
low  to  improve  its  state  of  preparation,  and 
drilled  the  servants  and  talked  English  to 
them,  so  that  they  would  know  what  was  wanted 
when  the  young  ladies  came.  It  was  an  inter 
esting  exercise,  and  had  the  three  young  men 
been  less  serious  in  their  anxiety  to  welcome 
the  coming  guests  they  would  have  found  them- 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  69 

solves  very  amusing  —  as  when  Langham  would 
lean  over  the  balcony  in  the  court  and  shout 
back  into  the  kitchen,  in  what  was  supposed  to 
be  an  imitation  of  his  sister's  manner,  "  Bring 
my  coffee  and  rolls  —  and  don't  take  all  day 
about  it  either,''  while  Clay  and  MacWilliams 
stood  anxiously  below  to  head  off  the  servants 
when  they  carried  in  a  can  of  hot  water  instead 
of  bringing  the  horses  round  to  the  door,  as 
they  had  been  told  to  do. 

"  Of  course  it 's  a  bit  rough  and  all  that, " 
Clay  would  say,  "  bat  they  have  only  to  tell  us 
what  they  want  changed  and  we  can  have  it 
ready  for  them  in  an  hour." 

"Oh,  my  sisters  are  all  right,"  Langham 
would  reassure  him;  "they'll  think  it's  fine. 
It  will  be  like  camping-out  to  them,  or  a  pic 
nic.  They  '11  understand." 

But  to  make  sure,  and  to  "test  his  girders," 
as  Clay  put  it,  they  gave  a  dinner,  and  after 
that  a  breakfast.  The  President  came  to  the 
first,  with  his  wife,  the  Countess  Manuelata, 
Madame  la  Prcsidanta,  and  Captain  'Stuart,  late 
of  the  Gordon  Highlanders,  and  now  in  com 
mand  of  the  household  troops  at  the  Govern 
ment  House  and  of  the  body-guard  of  the 
President.  He  was  a  friend  of  Clay's  and 
popular  with  every  one  present,  except  for  the 


70  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

fact  that  he  occupied  this  position,  instead  of 
serving  his  own  Government  in  his  own  army. 
Some  people  said  he  had  been  crossed  in  love, 
others,  less  sentimental,  that  he  had  forged  a 
check,  or  mixed  up  the  mess  accounts  of  his 
company.  But  Clay  and  Mac  Williams  said  it 
concerned  no  one  why  he  was  there,  and  then 
emphasized  the  remark  by  picking  a  quarrel 
with  a  man  who  had  given  an  unpleasant  reason 
for  it.  Stuart,  so  far  as  they  were  concerned, 
could  do  no  wrong. 

The  dinner  went  off  very  well,  and  the  Presi 
dent  consented  to  dine  with  them  in  a  week, 
on  the  invitation  of  young  Langham  to  meet 
his  father. 

"Miss  Langham  is  very  beautiful,  they  tell 
me,"  Madame  Alvarez  said  to  Clay.  "I  heard 
of  her  one  winter  in  Rome ;  she  was  presented 
there  and  much  admired." 

"Yes,  I  believe  she  is  considered  very  beau 
tiful,"  Clay  said.  "I  have  only  just  met  her, 
but  she  has  travelled  a  great  deal  and  knows 
every  one  who  is  of  interest,  and  I  think  you 
will  like  her  very  much." 

"I  mean  to  like  her,"  said  the  woman. 
"  There  are  very  few  of  the  native  ladies  who 
have  seen  much  of  the  world  beyond  a  trip  to 
Paris,  where  they  live  in  their  hotels  and  at 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  71 

the  dressmaker's  while  their  husbands  enjoy 
themselves ;  and  sometimes  I  am  rather  heart 
sick  for  my  home  and  my  own  people.  I  was 
overjoyed  when  I  heard  Miss  Langham.  was  to 
be  with  us  this  winter.  But  you  must  not  keep 
her  out  here  to  yourselves.  It  is  too  far  and 
too  selfish.  She  must  spend  some  time  with 
me  at  the  Government  House." 

"Yes,"  said  Clay,  "I  am  afraid  of  that.  I 
am  afraid  the  young  ladies  will  find  it  rather 
lonely  out  here." 

"Ah,  no,"  exclaimed  the  woman,  quickly. 
"You  have  made  it  beautiful,  and  it  is  only  a 
half-hour's  ride,  except  when  it  rains,"  she 
added,  laughing,  "  and  then  it  is  almost  as  easy 
to  row  as  to  ride. " 

"I  will  have  the  road  repaired,"  interrupted 
the  President.  "It  is  my  wish,  Mr.  Clay,  that 
you  will  command  me  in  every  way ;  I  am  most 
desirous  to  make  the  visit  of  Mr.  Langham 
agreeable  to  him,  he  is  doing  so  much  for  us." 

The  breakfast  was  given  later  in  the  week, 
and  only  men  were  present.  They  were  the 
rich  planters  and  bankers  of  Valencia,  generals 
in  the  army,  and  members  of  the  Cabinet,  and 
officers  from  the  tiny  war-ship  in  the  harbor. 
The  breeze  from  the  bay  touched  them  through 
the  open  doors,  the  food  and  wine  cheered 


72  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

them,  and  the  eager  courtesy  and  hospitality  of 
the  three  Americans  pleased  and  flattered  them. 
They  were  of  a  people  who  better  appreciate  the 
amenities  of  life  than  its  sacrifices. 

The  breakfast  lasted  far  into  the  afternoon, 
and,  inspired  by  the  success  of  the  banquet, 
Clay  quite  unexpectedly  found  himself  on  his 
feet  with  his  hand  on  his  heart,  thanking  the 
guests  for  the  good-will  and  assistance  which 
they  had  given  him  in  his  work,  "I  have 
tramped  down  your  coffee-plants,  and  cut  away 
your  forests,  and  disturbed  your  sleep  with  my 
engines,  and  you  have  not  complained,"  he 
said,  in  his  best  Spanish,  "and  we  will  show 
that  we  are  not  ungrateful." 

Then  Weimer,  the  Consul,  spoke,  and  told 
them  that  in  his  Annual  Consular  Report, 
which  he  had  just  forwarded  to  the  State 
Department,  he  had  related  how  ready  the  Gov 
ernment  of  Olancho  had  been  to  assist  the 
American  company.  "And  I  hope,"  he  con 
cluded,  "that  you  will  allow  me,  gentlemen,  to 
propose  the  health  of  President  Alvarez  and  the 
members  of  his  Cabinet." 

The  men  rose  to  their  feet,  one  by  one,  fill 
ing  their  glasses  and  laughing  and  saying, 
"  Viva  el  Gobernador, "  until  they  were  all  stand 
ing.  Then,  as  they  looked  at  one  another  and 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  73 

saw  only  the  faces  of  friends,  some  one  of  them 
cried,  suddenly,  "To  President  Alvarez,  Dic 
tator  of  Olancho!" 

The  cry  was  drowned  in  a  yell  of  exultation, 
and  men  sprang  cheering  to  their  chairs  waving 
their  napkins  above  their  heads,  and  those  who 
wore  swords  drew  them  and  flashed  thesn  in 
the  air,  and  the  quiet,  lazy  good-nature  of  the 
breakfast  was  turned  into  an  uproarious  scene 
of  wild  excitement.  Clay  pushed  back  his 
chair  from  the  head  of  the  table  with  an 
anxious  look  at  the  servants  gathered  about  the 
open  door,  and  Weimer  clutched  frantically  at 
Langham's  elbow  and  whispered,  "  What  did  I 
say  ?  For  heaven's  sake,  how  did  it  begin  ?  " 

The  outburst  ceased  as  suddenly  as  it  had 
started,  and  old  General  Rojas,  the  Vice- 
President,  called  out,  "What  is  said  is  said, 
but  it  must  not  be  repeated." 

Stuart  waited  until  after  the  rest  had  gone, 
and  Clay  led  him  out  to  the  end  of  the  veranda. 
"  Now  will  you  kindly  tell  me  what  that  was  ?  " 
Clay  asked.  "  It  did  n't  sound  like  champagne. " 

"No,"  said  the  other,  "I  thought  you  knew. 
Alvarez  means  to  proclaim  himself  Dictator, 
if  he  can,  before  the  spring  elections." 

"And  are  you  going  to  help  him  ?  " 

"Of  course,"  said  the  Englishman,  simply. 


74  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

"Well,  that's  all  right,"  said  Clay,  "but 
there  's  no  use  shouting  the  fact  all  over  the 
shop  like  that  —  and  they  should  n't  drag  me 
into  it. " 

Stuart  laughed  easily  and  shook  his  head. 
"It  won't  be  long  before  you '11  be  in  it  your 
self,"  he  said. 

Clay  awoke  early  Friday  morning  to  hear  the 
shutters  beating  viciously  against  the  side  of 
the  house,  and  the  wind  rushing  through  the 
palms,  and  the  rain  beating  in  splashes  on  the 
zinc  roof.  It  did  not  come  soothingly  and  in  a 
steady  downpour,  but  brokenly,  like  the  rush 
of  waves  sweeping  over  a  rough  beach.  He 
turned  on  the  pillow  and  shut  his  eyes  again 
with  the  same  impotent  and  rebellious  sense  of 
disappointment  that  he  used  to  feel  when  he 
had  wakened  as  a  boy  and  found  it  storming  on 
his  holiday,  and  he  tried  to  sleep  once  more  in 
the  hope  that  when  he  again  awoke  the  sun 
would  be  shining  in  his  eyes;  but  the  storm 
only  slackened  and  did  not  cease,  and  the  rain 
continued  to  fall  with  dreary,  relentless  per 
sistence.  The  men  climbed  the  muddy  road  to 
the  Palms,  and  viewed  in  silence  the  wreck 
which  the  night  had  brought  to  their  plants  and 
garden-paths.  Rivulets  of  muddy  water  had 
cut  gutters  over  the  lawn  and  poured  out  from 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  75 

under  the  veranda,  and  plants  and  palms  lay 
bent  and  broken,  with  their  broad  leaves  bedrag 
gled  and  coated  with  mud.  The  harbor  and 
the  encircling  mountains,  showed  dimly  through 
a  curtain  of  warm,  sticky  rain.  To  something 
that  Langham  said  of  making  the  best  of  it, 
MacWilliams  replied,  gloomily,  that  he  would 
not  be  at  all  surprised  if  the  ladies  refused  to 
leave  the  ship  and  demanded  to  be  taken  home 
immediately.  "  I  am  sorry, "  Clay  said,  simply ; 
"  I  wanted  them  to  like  it. " 

The  men  walked  back  to  the  office  in  grim 
silence,  and  took  turns  in  watching  with  a 
glass  the  arms  of  the  semaphore,  three  miles 
below,  at  the  narrow  opening  of  the  bay.  Clay 
smiled  nervously  to  himself,  with  a  sudden 
sinking  at  the  heart,  and  with  a  hot  blush  of 
pleasure,  as  he  thought  of  how  often  he  had 
looked  at  its  great  arms  outlined  like  a  mast 
against  the  sky,  and  thanked  it  in  advance  for 
telling  him  that  she  was  near.  In  the  harbor 
below,  the  vessels  lay  with  bare  yards  and 
empty  decks,  the  wharves  were  deserted,  and 
only  an  occasional  small  boat  moved  across  the 
beaten  surface  of  the  bay. 

But  at  twelve  o'clock  MacWilliams  lowered 
the  glass  quickly,  with  a  little  gasp  of  excite 
ment,  rubbed  its  moist  lens  on  the  inside  of  his 


76  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

coat  and  turned  it  again  toward  a  limp  strip  of 
bunting  that  was  crawling  slowly  up  the  hal 
yards  of  the  semaphore.  A  second  dripping 
rag  answered  it  from  the  semaphore  in  front  of 
the  Custom-House,  and  Mac  Williams  laughed 
nervously  and  shut  the  glass. 

"  It 's  red,"  he  said ;  "  they  'vc  come." 
They  had  planned  to  wear  white  duck  suits, 
and  go  out  in  a  launch  with  a  flag  flying,  and 
they  had  made  MacWilliams  purchase  a  red 
cummerbund  and  a  pith  helmet;  but  they 
tumbled  into  the  launch  now,  wet  and  bedrag 
gled  as  they  were,  and  raced  Weimer  in  his 
boat,  with  the  American  flag  clinging  to  the 
pole,  to  the  side  of  the  big  steamer  as  she  drew 
slowly  into  the  bay.  Other  row-boats  and 
launches  and  lighters  began  to  push  out  from 
the  wharves,  men  appeared  under  the  sagging 
awnings  of  the  bare  houses  along  the  river 
front,  and  the  custom  and  health  officers  in 
shining  oil-skins  and  puffing  damp  cigars 
clambered  over  the  side. 

"I  sec  them,"  cried  Langham,  jumping  up 
and  rocking  the  boat  in  his  excitement.  "  There 
they  are  in  the  bow.  That 's  Hope  waving. 
Hope!  hullo,  Hope!"  he  shouted,  "hullo!" 
Clay  recognized  her  standing  between  the 
younger  sister  and  her  father,  with  the  rain 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  77 

beating  on  all  of  them,  and  waving  her  hand  to 
Langham.  The  men  took  off  their  hats,  and  as 
they  pulled  up  alongside  she  bowed  to  Clay  and 
nodded  brightly.  They  sent  Langham  up  the 
gangway  first,  and  waited  until  he  had  made 
his  greetings  to  his  family  alone. 

"We  have  had  a  terrible  trip,  Mr.  Clay," 
Miss  Langham  said  to  him,  beginning,  as 
people  will,  with  the  last  few  days,  as  though 
they  were  of  the  greatest  importance ;  "  and  we 
could  see  nothing  of  you  at  the  mines  at  all  as 
we  passed  —  only  a  wet  flag,  and  a  lot  of  very 
friendly  workmen,  who  cheered  and  fired  off 
pans  of  dynamite." 

"They  did,  did  they?"  said  Clay,  with  a 
satisfied  nod.  "  That 's  all  right,  then.  That 
was  a  royal  salute  in  your  honor.  Kirkland 
had  that  to  do.  He  's  the  foreman  of  A  open 
ing.  I  am  awfully  sorry  about  this  rain  —  it 
spoils  everything." 

"  I  hope  it  has  n't  spoiled  our  breakfast,"  said 
Mr.  Langham.  "  We  have  n't  eaten  anything 
this,  morning,  because  we  wanted  a  change  of 
diet,  and  the  captain  told  us  we  should  be  on 
shore  before  now." 

"We  have  some  carriages  for  you  at  the 
wharf,  and  we  will  drive  you  right  out  to  the 
Palms,"  said  young  Langham,  "It's  shorter 


78  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

by  water,  but  there  's  a  hill  that  the  girls 
could  n't  climb  to-day.  That 's  the  house  we 
built  for  you,  Governor,  with  the  flag-pole,  up 
there  on  the  hill ;  and  there  's  your  ugly  old 
pier;  and  that's  where  we  live,  in  the  little 
shack  above  it,  with  the  tin  roof;  and  that 
opening  to  the  right  is  the  terminus  of 
the  railroad  MacWilliams  built.  Where  's 
MacWilliams  ?  Here,  Mac,  I  want  you  to 
know  my  father.  This  is  MacWilliams,  sir, 
of  whom  I  wrote  you." 

There  was  some  delay  about  the  baggage, 
and  in  getting  the  party  together  in  the  boats 
that  Langham  and  the  Consul  had  brought; 
and  after  they  had  stood  for  some  time  on  the 
wet  dock,  hungry  and  damp,  it  was  rather 
aggravating  to  find  that  the  carriages  which 
Langham  had  ordered  to  be  at  one  pier  had 
gone  to  another.  So  the  new  arrivals  sat 
rather  silently  under  the  shed  of  the  levee 
on  a  row  of  cotton-bales,  while  Clay  and 
MacWilliams  raced  off  after  the  carriages. 

"  I  wish  we  did  n't  have  to  keep  the  hood 
down,"  young  Langham  said,  anxiously,  as 
they  at  last  proceeded  heavily  up  the  muddy 
streets;  "it  makes  it  so  hot,  and  you  can't  see 
anything.  Not  that  it 's  worth  seeing  in  all 
this  mud  and  muck,  but  it 's  great  when 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  79 

the  sun  shines.  We  had  planned  it  all  so 
differently." 

He  was  alone  with  his  family  now  in  one 
carriage,  and  the  other  men  and  the  servants 
were  before  them  in  two  others.  It  seemed  an. 
interminable  ride  to  them  all  —  to  the  strangers, 
and  to  the  men  who  were  anxious  that  they 
should  be  pleased.  They  left  the  city  at  last, 
and  toiled  along  the  limestone  road  to  the 
Palms,  rocking  from  side  to  side  and  sinking 
in  ruts  filled  with  rushing  water.  When  they 
opened  the  flap  of  the  hood  the  rain  beat  in  on 
them,  and  when  they  closed  it  they  stewed  in  a 
damp,  warm  atmosphere  of  wet  leather  and 
horse-hair. 

"This  is  worse  than  a  Turkish  bath,"  said 
Hope,  faintly.  "Don't  you  live  anywhere, 
Ted  ? " 

"Oh,  it's  not  far  now,"  said  the  younger 
brother,  dismally;  but  even  as  he  spoke  the 
carriage  lurched  forward  and  plunged  to  one 
side  and  came  to  a  halt,  and  they  could  hear 
the  streams  rushing  past  the  wheels  like  the 
water  at  the  bow  of  a  boat.  A  wet,  black  face 
appeared  at  the  opening  of  the  hood,  and  a 
man  spoke  despondently  in  Spanish. 

"  He  says  we  're  stuck  in  the  mud, "  explained 
Langham.  He  looked  at  them  so  beseechingly 


80  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

and  so  pitifully,  with  the  perspiration  stream 
ing  down  his  face,  and  his  clothes  damp  and  be 
draggled,  that  Hope  leaned  back  and  laughed, 
and  his  father  patted  him  on  the  knee.  "It 
can't  be  any  worse,"  he  said,  cheerfully;  "it 
must  mend  now.  It  is  not  your  fault,  Ted, 
that  we're  starving  and  lost  in  the  mud." 

Langham  looked  out  to  find  Clay  and 
MacWilliams  knee-deep  in  the  running  water, 
with  their  shoulders  against  the  muddy  wheels, 
and  the  driver  lashing  at  the  horses  and  drag 
ging  at  their  bridles.  He  sprang  out  to  their 
assistance,  and  Hope,  shaking  off  her  sister's 
detaining  hands,  jumped  out  after  him,  laugh 
ing.  She  splashed  up  the  hill  to  the  horses' 
heads,  motioning  to  the  driver  to  release  his 
hold  on  their  bridles. 

"That  is  not  the  way  to  treat  a  horse,"  she 
said.  "  Let  me  have  them.  Are  you  men  all 
ready  down  there  ? "  she  called.  Each  of  the 
three  men  glued  a  shoulder  to  a  wheel,  and 
clenched  his  teeth  and  nodded.  "All  right, 
then,"  Hope  called  back.  She  took  hold  of  the 
huge  Mexican  bits  close  to  the  mouth,  where  the 
pressure  was  not  so  cruel,  and  then  coaxing  and 
tugging  by  turns,  and  slipping  as  often  as  the 
horses  themselves,  she  drew  them  out  of  the  mud, 
and  with  the  help  of  the  men  back  of  the  car- 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  81 

riage  pulled  it  clear  until  it  stood  free  again 
at  the  top  of  the  hill.  Then  she  released  her 
hold  on  the  bridles  and  looked  down,  in  dismay 
at  her  frock  and  hands,  and  then  up  at  the 
three  men.  They  appeared  so  utterly  miserable 
and  forlorn  in  their  muddy  garments,  and  with 
their  faces  washed  with  the  rain  and  perspira 
tion,  that  the  girl  gave  way  suddenly  to  an  un 
controllable  shriek  of  delight.  The  men  stared 
blankly  at  her  for  a  moment,  and  then  inquir 
ingly  at  one  another,  and  as  the  humor  of  the 
situation  struck  them  they  burst  into  an  echo 
ing  shout  of  laughter,  which  rose  above  the 
noise  of  the  wind  and  rain,  and  before  which 
the  disappointments  and  trials  of  the  morning 
were  swept  away.  Before  they  reached  the 
Palms  the  sun  was  out  and  shining  with  fierce 
brilliancy,  reflecting  its  rays  on  every  damp  leaf, 
and  drinking  up  each  glistening  pool  of  water. 

Mac  Williams  and  Clay  left  the  Langhams 
alone  together,  and  returned  to  the  office,  where 
they  assured  each  other  again  and  again  that 
there  was  no  doubt,  from  what  each  had  heard 
different  members  of  the  family  say,  that  they 
were  greatly  pleased  with  all  that  had  been  pre 
pared  for  them. 

"  They  think  it 's  fine ! "  said  young  Langham, 
who  had  run  down  the  hill  to  tell  them  about  it. 
6 


82  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

"  I  tell  you,  they  are  pleased.  I  took  them  all 
over  the  house,  and  they  just  exclaimed  every 
minute.  Of  course,"  he  said,  dispassionately, 
"  1  thought  they  'd  like  it,  hut  I  had  no  idea  it 
would  please  them  as  much  as  it  has.  My  Gov 
ernor  is  so  delighted  with  the  place  that  he  's 
sitting  out  there  on  the  veranda  now,  rocking 
himself  up  and  down  and  taking  long  breaths 
of  sea-air,  just  as  though  he  owned  the  whole 
coast-line." 

Langliam  dined  with  his  people  that  night, 
Clay  and  Mac  Williams  having  promised  to  fol 
low  him  up  the  hill  later.  It  was  a  night  of 
much  moment  to  them  all,  and  the  two  men  ate 
their  dinner  in  silence,  each  considering  what 
the  coming  of  the  strangers  might  mean  to  him. 

As  he  was  leaving  the  room  MacWilliams 
stopped  and  hovered  uncertainly  in  the  doorway. 

"  Are  you  going  to  get  yourself  into  a  dress- 
suit  to-night?"  he  asked.  Clay  said  that  he 
thought  he  would ;  he  wanted  to  feel  quite  clean 
once  more. 

"  Well,  all  right,  then,"  the  other  returned, 
reluctantly.  "  I  '11  do  it  for  this  once,  if  you 
mean  to,  but  you  need  n't  think  I  'in  going  to 
make  a  practice  of  it,  for  I  'm  not.  I  have  n't 
worn  a  dress-suit,"  he  continued,  as  though  ex 
plaining  his  principles  in  the  matter,  "  since 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  83 

your  spread  when  we  opened  the  railroad- 
that  's  six  months  ago;  and  the  time  before 
that  I  wore  one  at  MacGolderick's  funeral. 
MacGolderick  blew  himself  up  at  Puerto  Tru- 
xillo,  shooting  rocks  for  the  breakwater.  We 
never  found  all  of  him,  but  we  gave  what  we 
could  get  together  as  fine  a  funeral  as  those 
natives  ever  saw.  The  boys,  they  wanted  to 
make  him  look  respectable,  so  they  asked  me  to 
lend  them  my  dress-suit,  but  I  told  them  I 
meant  to  wear  it  myself.  That 's  how  I  came  to 
wear  a  dress-suit  at  a  funeral.  It  was  either  me 
or  MacCrolderick." 

u  Mac  Williams,"  said  Clay,  as  he  stuck  the 
toe  of  one  boot  into  the  heel  of  the  other,  "  if  I 
had  your  imagination  I  'd  give  up  railroading 
and  take  to  writing  war  clouds  for  the  news 
papers." 

"  Do  you  mean  you  don't  believe  that  story  ?  " 
Mac  Williams  demanded,  sternly. 

*  I  do,"  said  Clay,  "  I  mean  I  don't." 

"Well,  let  it  go,"  returned  MacWilliams, 
gloomily  ;  "  but  there 's  been  funerals  for  less 
than  that,  let  me  tell  you." 

A  half-hour  later  MacWilliams  appeared  in 
the  door  and  stood  gazing  attentively  at  Clay 
arranging  his  tie  before  a  hand-glass,  and  then 
at  himself  in  his  unusual  apparel. 


84  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

"  No  wonder  you  voted  to  dress  up,"  he  ex 
claimed  finally,  in  a  tone  of  personal  injury. 
"  That 's  not  a  dress-suit  you  've  got  on  anyway. 
It  has  n't  any  tails.  And  I  hope  for  your  sake, 
Mr.  Clay,"  he  continued,  his  voice  rising  in 
plaintive  indignation,  "  that  you  are  not  going 
to  play  that  scarf  on  us  for  a  vest.  And  you 
haven't  got  a  high  collar  on,  either.  That's 
only  a  rough  blue  print  of  a  dress-suit.  Why, 
you  look  just  as  comfortable  as  though  you  were 
going  to  enjoy  yourself — and  you  look  cool,  too." 

"  Well,  why  not  ?"  laughed  Clay. 

"  Well,  but  look  at  me,"  cried  the  other.  «  Do 
I  look  cool  ?  Do  I  look  happy  or  comfortable  ? 
No,  I  don't.  I  look  just  about  the  way  I  feel, 
like  a  fool  undertaker.  I  'm  going  to  take  this 
thing  right  off.  You  and  Ted  Langham  can 
wear  your  silk  scarfs  and  bobtail  coats,  if  you 
like,  but  if  they  don't  want  me  in  white  duck 
they  don't  get  me." 

When  they  reached  the  Palms,  Clay  asked 
Miss  Langham  if  she  did  not  want  to  see  his 
view.  "  And  perhaps,  if  you  appreciate  it  prop 
erly,  I  will  make  you  a  present  of  it,"  he  said, 
as  he  walked  before  her  down  the  length  of  the 
veranda. 

"  It  would  be  very  selfish  to  keep  it  all  to  my 
self,"  she  said.  "  Could  n't  we  share  it  V »  They 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  85 

had  left  the  others  seated  facing  the  bay,  with 
Mac  Williams  and  young  Langham  on  the  broad 
steps  of  the  veranda,  and  the  younger  sister  and 
her  father  sitting  in  long  bamboo  steamer-chairs 
above  them. 

Clay  and  Miss  Langham  were  quite  alone. 
From  the  high  cliff  on  which  the  Palms  stood 
they  could  look  down  the  narrow  inlet  that 
joined  the  ocean  and  see  the  moonlight  turning 
the  water  into  a  rippling  ladder  of  light  and 
gilding  the  dark  green  leaves  of  the  palms  near 
them  with  a  border  of  silver.  Directly  below 
them  lay  the  waters  of  the  bay,  reflecting  the 
red  and  green  lights  of  the  ships  at  anchor,  and 
beyond  them  again  were  the  yellow  lights  of  the 
town,  rising  one  above  the  other  as  the  city 
crept  up  the  hill.  And  back  of  all  were  the 
mountains,  grim  and  mysterious,  with  white 
clouds  sleeping  in  their  huge  valleys,  like 
masses  of  fog. 

Except  for  the  ceaseless  murmur  of  the  insect 
life  about  them  the  night  was  absolutely  still  — 
so  still  that  the  striking  of  the  ships'  bells  in 
the  harbor  came  to  them  sharply  across  the  sur 
face  of  the  water,  and  they  could  hear  from 
time  to  time  the  splash  of  some  great  fish  and 
the  steady  creaking  of  an  oar  in  a  rowlock  that 
grew  fainter  and  fainter  as  it  grew  further  away, 


86  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

until  it  was  drowned  in  the  distance.  Miss 
Langham  was  for  a  long  time  silent.  She  stood 
with  her  hands  clasped  behind  her,  gazing  from 
side  to  side  into  the  moonlight,  and  had  appar 
ently  forgotten  that  Clay  was  present. 

"  Well,"  he  said  at  last,  "  I  think  yon  appreci 
ate  it  properly.  I  was  afraid  you  would  exclaim 
about  it,  and  say  it  was  fine,  or  charming,  or 
something." 

Miss  Langham  turned  to  him  and  smiled 
slightly.  "  And  you  told  me  once  that  you 
knew  me  so  very  well,"  she  said. 

Clay  chose  to  forget  much  that  he  had  said 
on  that  night  when  he  had  first  met  her.  He 
knew  that  he  had  been  bold  then,  and  had  dared 
to  be  so  because  he  did  not  think  he  would  see 
her  again ;  but,  now  that  he  was  to  meet  her 
every  day  through  several  months,  it  seemed 
better  to  him  that  they  should  grow  to  know 
each  other  as  they  really  were,  simply  and  sin 
cerely,  and  without  forcing  the  situation  in  any 
way. 

So  he  replied,  "  I  don't  know  you  so  well  now. 
You  must  remember  I  have  n't  seen  you  for  a 
year." 

"  Yes,  but  you  had  n't  seen  me  for  twenty- 
two  years  then,"  she  answered.  "I  don't  think 
you  have  changed  much,"  she  went  on.  "  1  ex- 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  87 

pected  to  find  you  gray  with  cares.  Ted  wrote 
us  about  the  way  you  work  all  day  at  the  mines 
and  sit  up  all  night  over  calculations  and  plans 
and  reports.  But  you  don't  show  it.  When 
are  you  going  to  take  us  over  the  mines  ?  To 
morrow  ?  I  am  very  anxious  to  see  them,  but  I 
suppose  father  will  want  to  inspect  them  first. 
Hope  knows  all  about  them,  I  believe;  she 
knows  their  names,  and  how  much  you  have 
taken  out,  and  how  much  you  have  put  in,  too, 
and  what  MacWilliams's  railroad  cost,  and  who 
got  the  contract  for  the  ore  pier.  Ted  told  us 
in  his  letters,  and  she  used  to  work  it  out  on  the 
map  in  father's  study.  She  is  a  most  energetic 
child ;  I  think  sometimes  she  should  have  been  a 
boy.  I  wish  I  could  be  the  help  to  any  one  that 
she  is  to  my  father  and  to  me.  Whenever  I  am 
blue  or  down  she  makes  fun  of  me,  and  — 

"  Why  should  you  ever  be  blue  ?"  asked  Clay, 
abruptly. 

"  There  is  no  real  reason,  I  suppose,"  the  girl 
answered,  smiling,  "  except  that  life  is  so  very 
easy  for  me  that  I  have  to  invent  some  woes. 
I  should  be  better  for  a  few  reverses."  And 
then  she  went  on  in  a  lower  voice,  and  turning 
her  head  away,  "  In  our  family  there  is  no  wo 
man  older  than  I  am  to  whom  I  can  go  with 
questions  that  trouble  me.  Hope  is  like  a  boy. 


88  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

as  I  said,  and  plays  with  Ted,  and  my  father  is 
very  busy  with  his  affairs,  and  since  my  mother 
died  I  have  been  very  much  alone.  A  man  can 
not  understand.  And  I  cannot  understand  why 
I  should  be  speaking  to  you  about  myself  and 
my  troubles,  except—  "  she  added,  a  little  wist 
fully,  "  that  you  once  said  you  were  interested 
in  me,  even  if  it  was  as  long  as  a  year  ago. 
And  because  I  want  you  to  be  very  kind  to  me, 
as  you  have  been  to  Ted,  and  I  hope  that  we 
are  going  to  be  very  good  friends." 

She  was  so  beautiful,  standing  in  the  shadow 
with  the  moonlight  about  her  and  with  her  hand 
held  out  to  him,  that  Clay  felt  as  though  the 
scene  were  hardly  real.  He  took  her  hand  in 
his  and  held  it  for  a  moment.  His  pleasure  in 
the  sweet  friendliness  of  her  manner  and  in  her 
beauty  was  so  great  that  it  kept  him  silent. 

"  Friends  !  "  he  laughed  under  his  breath.  "  I 
don't  think  there  is  much  danger  of  our  not 
being  friends.  The  danger  lies,"  he  went  on, 
smiling,  "  in  my  not  being  able  to  stop  there." 

Miss  Langham  made  no  sign  that  she  had 
heard  him,  but  turned  and  walked  out  into  the 
moonlight  and  down  the  porch  to  where  the 
others  were  sitting. 

Young  Langham  had  ordered  a  native  orches 
tra  of  guitars  and  reed  instruments  from  the 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  89 

town  to  serenade  his  people,  and  they  were 
standing  in  front  of  the  house  in  the  moonlight 
as  Miss  Langham  and  Clay  came  forward.  They 
played  the  shrill,  eerie  music  of  their  country 
with  a  passion  and  feeling  that  filled  out  the 
strange  tropical  scene  around  them ;  but  Clay 
heard  them  only  as  an  accompaniment  to  his 
own  thoughts,  and  as  a  part  of  the  beautiful 
night  and  the  tall,  beautiful  girl  who  had  domi 
nated  it.  He  watched  her  from  the  shadow  as 
she  sat  leaning  easily  forward  and  looking  into 
the  night.  The  moonlight  fell  full  upon  her, 
and  though  she  did  not  once  look  at  him  or 
turn  her  head  in  his  direction,  he  felt  as  though 
she  must  be  conscious  of  his  presence,  as  though 
there  were  already  an  understanding  between 
them  which  she  herself  had  established.  She 
had  asked  him  to  be  her  friend.  That  was  only 
a  pretty  speech,  perhaps ;  but  she  had  spoken 
of  herself,  and  had  hinted  at  her  perplexities 
and  her  loneliness,  and  he  argued  that  while  it 
was  no  compliment  to  be  asked  to  share  an 
other's  pleasure,  it  must  mean  something  when 
one  was  allowed  to  learn  a  little  of  another's 
troubles. 

And  while  his  mind  was  flattered  and  aroused 
by  this  promise  of  confidence  between  them,  he 
was  rejoicing  in  the  rare  quality  of  her  beauty, 


90  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

and  in  the  thought  that  she  was  to  be  near  him, 
aiid  near  him  here,  of  all  places.  It  seemed  a 
very  wonderful  thing  to  Clay  —  something  that 
could  only  have  happened  in  a  novel  or  a  play. 
For  while  the  man  and  the  hour  frequently 
appeared  together,  he  had  found  that  the  one 
wuinan  in  the  world  and  the  place  and  the  man 
was  a  much  more  difficult  combination  to  bring 
into  effect.  Xo  one,  he  assured  himself  thank 
fully,  could  have  designed  a  more  lovely  setting 
for  his  love-story,  if  it  was  to  be  a  love-story, 
and  he  hoped  it  was,  than  this  into  which  she 
had  come  of  her  own  free  will.  It  was  a  land 
of  romance  and  adventure,  of  guitars  and  lat 
ticed  windows,  of  warm  brilliant  days  and  gor 
geous  silent  nights,  under  purple  heavens  and 
white  stars.  And  he  was  to  have  her  all  to 
himself,  with  no  one  near  to  interrupt,  no  other 
friends,  even,  and  no  possible  rival.  She  was 
not  guarded  now  by  a  complex  social  system, 
with  its  responsibilities.  He  was  the  most 
lucky  of  men.  Others  had  only  seen  her  in 
her  drawing-room  or  in  an  opera-box,  but  he 
was  free  to  ford  mountain-streams  at  her  side, 
or  ride  with  her  under  arches  of  the  great 
palms,  or  to  play  a  guitar  boldly  beneath  her 
window.  He  was  free  to  come  and  go  at  any 
hour ;  not  only  free  to  do  so,  but  the  very  na- 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  91 

ture  of  his  duties  made  it  necessary  that  they 
should  be  thrown  constantly  together. 

The  music  of  the  violins  moved  him  and 
touched  him  deeply,  and  stirred  depths  at  which 
he  had  not  guessed.  It  made  him  humble  and 
deeply  grateful,  and  he  felt  how  mean  and  un 
worthy  he  was  of  such  great  happiness.  He 
had  never  loved  any  woman  as  he  felt  that  he 
could  love  this  woman,  as  he  hoped  that  he  was 
to  love  her.  For  he  was  not  so  far  blinded  by  her 
beauty  and  by  what  he  guessed  her  character 
to  be,  as  to  imagine  that  he  really  knew  her. 
He  only  knew  what  he  hoped  she  was,  what  he 
believed  the  soul  must  be  that  looked  out  of 
those  kind,  beautiful  eyes,  and  that  found  utter 
ance  in  that  wonderful  voice  which  could  con 
trol  him  and  move  him  by  a  word. 

He  felt,  as  he  looked  at  the  group  before  him, 
how  lonely  his  own  life  had  been,  how  hard  he 
had  worked  for  so  little  —  for  what  other  men 
found  ready  at  hand  when  they  were  born  into 
the  world.  He  felt  almost  a  touch  of  self-pity 
at  his  own  imperfectness ;  and  the  power  of  his 
will  and  his  confidence  in  himself,  of  which  he 
was  so  proud,  seemed  misplaced  and  little. 
And  then  he  wondered  if  he  had  not  neglected 
chances  ;  but  in  answer  to  this  his  injured  self- 
love  rose  to  rebut  the  idea  that  he  had  wasted 


92  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

any  portion  of  his  time,  and  he  assured  himself 
that  he  had  done  the  work  that  he  had  cut  out 
for  himself  to  do  as  best  he  could  ;  no  one  but 
himself  knew  with  what  courage  and  spirit. 
And  so  he  sat  combating  with  himself,  hoping 
one  moment  that  she  would  prove  what  he  be 
lieved  her  to  be,  and  the  next,  scandalized  at 
his  temerity  in  daring  to  think  of  her  at  all. 

The  spell  lifted  as  the  music  ceased,  and  Clay 
brought  himself  back  to  the  moment  and  looked 
about  him  as  though  he  were  waking  from  a 
dream  and  had  expected  to  see  the  scene  dis 
appear  and  the  figures  near  him  fade  into  the 
moonlight. 

Young  Langham  had  taken  a  guitar  from  one 
of  the  musicians  and  pressed  it  upon  MacWil- 
liams,  with  imperative  directions  to  sing  such 
and  such  songs,  of  which,  in  their  isolation,  they 
had  grown  to  think  most  highly,  and  Mac  Wil 
liams  was  protesting  in  much  embarrassment. 

MacWilliams  had  a  tenor  voice  which  he 
maltreated  in  the  most  villanous  manner  by 
singing  directly  through  his  nose.  He  had  a 
taste  for  sentimental  songs,  in  which  "  kiss " 
rhymed  with  "  bliss,"  and  in  which  "  the  people 
cry  "  was  always  sure  to  be  followed  with  "  as 
she  goes  by,  that's  pretty  Katie  Moody,"  or 
"  Rosie  Mclntyre."  He  had  gathered  his  songs 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  93 

at  the  side  of  camp-fires,  and  in  canteens  at  the 
first  section-house  of  a  new  railroad,  and  his 
original  collection  of  ballads  had  had  but  few 
additions  in  several  years.  MacWilliams  at  first 
was  shy,  which  was  quite  a  new  development, 
until  he  made  them  promise  to  laugh  if  they 
wanted  to  laugh,  explaining  that  he  would  not 
mind  that  so  much  as  he  would  the  idea  that 
he  thought  he  was  serious. 

The  song  of  which  he  was  especially  fond  was 
one  called  "  He  never  cares  to  wander  from 
his  own  Fireside,"  which  was  especially  appro 
priate  in  coming  from  a  man  who  had  visited 
almost  every  spot  in  the  three  Americas,  ex 
cept  his  home,  in  ten  years.  MacWilliams  al 
ways  ended  the  evening's  entertainment  with 
this  chorus,  no  matter  how  many  times  it  had 
been  sung  previously,  and  seemed  to  regard  it 
with  much  the  same  veneration  that  the  true 
Briton  feels  for  his  national  anthem. 

The  words  of  the  chorus  were : 

"  He  never  cares  to  wander  from  his  own  fireside, 
He  never  cares  to  wander  or  to  roam. 
With  his  babies  on  his  knee, 
He  's  as  happy  as  can  be, 
For  there  's  no  place  like  Home,  Sweet  Home.'* 

MacWilliams  loved  accidentals,  and  what  he 
called  "  barber-shop  chords."  He  used  a  beau- 


94  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

tiful  accidental  at  the  word  "  be,"  of  which  he 
was  very  fond,  and  he  used  to  hang  on  that 
note  for  a  long  time,  so  that  those  in  the  ex 
treme  rear  of  the  hall,  as  he  was  wont  to  ex 
plain,  should  get  the  full  benefit  of  it.  And  it 
was  his  custom  to  emphasize  "  for  "  in  the  last 
line  by  speaking  instead  of  singing  it,  and  then 
coming  to  a  full  stop  before  dashing  on  again 
with  the  excellent  truth  that  "there  is  NO  place 
like  Home,  Sweet  Home." 

The  men  at  the  mines  used  to  laugh  at  him 
and  his  song  at  first,  but  they  saw  that  it  was 
not  to  be  so  laughed  away,  and  that  he  regarded 
it  with  some  peculiar  sentiment.  So  they  suf 
fered  him  to  sing  it  in  peace. 

MacWilliams  went  through  his  repertoire  to 
the  unconcealed  amusement  of  young  Langham 
and  Hope.  When  he  had  finished  he  asked 
Hope  if  she  knew  a  comic  song  of  which  he  had 
only  heard  by  reputation.  One  of  the  men  at 
the  mines  had  gained  a  certain  celebrity  by 
claiming  to  have  heard  it  in  the  States,  but  as 
he  gave  a  completely  new  set  of  words  to  the 
tune  of  the  "  Wearing  of  the  Green"  as  the 
true  version,  his  veracity  was  doubted.  Hope 
said  she  knew  it,  of  course,  and  they  all  went 
into  the  drawing-room,  where  the  men  grouped 
themselves  about  the  piano.  It  was  a  night 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  95 

they  remembered  long  afterward.  Hope  sat  at 
the  piano  protesting  and  laughing,  but  singing 
the  songs  of  which  the  new-comers  had  be 
come  so  weary,  but  which  the  three  men  heard 
open-eyed,  and  hailed  with  shouts  of  pleasure. 
The  others  enjoyed  them  and  their  delight,  as 
though  they  were  people  in  a  play  expressing 
themselves  in  this  extravagant  manner  for  their 
entertainment,  until  they  understood  how  pov 
erty-stricken  their  lives  had  been  and  that  they 
were  not  only  enjoying  the  music  for  itself,  but 
because  it  was  characteristic  of  all  that  they 
had  left  behind  them.  It  was  pathetic  to  hear 
them  boast  of  having  read  of  a  certain  song  in 
such  a  paper,  and  of  the  fact  that  they  knew 
the  plot  of  a  late  comic  opera  and  the  names 
of  those  who  had  played  in  it,  and  that  it  had 
or  had  not  been  acceptable  to  the  New  York 
public. 

"Dear  me,"  Hope  would  cry,  looking  over 
her  shoulder  with  a  despairing  glance  at  her 
sister  and  father,  "  they  don't  even  know  '  Tom 
my  Atkins ! ' " 

It  was  a  very  happy  evening  for  them  all, 
foreshadowing,  as  it  did,  a  continuation  of  just 
such  evenings.  Young  Langham  was  radiant 
with  pleasure  at  the  good  account  which  Clay 
had  given  of  him  to  his  father,  and  Mr.  Lang- 


96  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

ham  was  gratified,  and  proud  of  the  manner  in 
which  his  son  and  heir  had  conducted  himself; 
and  Mac  Williams,  who  had  never  before  been 
taken  so  simply  and  sincerely  by  people  of  a 
class  that  he  had  always  held  in  humorous  awe, 
felt  a  sudden  accession  of  dignity,  and  an  un 
happy  fear  that  when  they  laughed  at  what  he 
said,  it  was  because  its  sense  was  so  utterly 
different  from  their  point  of  view,  and  not  be 
cause  they  saw  the  humor  of  it.  He  did  not 
know  what  the  word  "  snob "  signified,  and  in 
his  roughened,  easy-going  nature  there  was  no 
touch  of  false  pride ;  but  he  could  not  help 
thinking  how  surprised  his  people  would  be  if 
they  could  see  him,  whom  they  regarded  as  a 
wanderer  and  renegade  on  the  face  of  the  earth 
and  the  prodigal  of  the  family,  and  for  that 
reason  the  best  loved,  leaning  over  a  grand 
piano,  while  one  daughter  of  his  much-revered 
president  played  comic  songs  for  his  delecta 
tion,  and  the  other,  who  according  to  the  news 
papers  refused  princes  daily,  and  who  was  the 
most  wonderful  creature  he  had  ever  seen, 
poured  out  his  coffee  and  brought  it  to  him 
with  her  own  hands. 

The  evening  came  to  an  end  at  last,  and  the 
new  arrivals  accompanied  their  visitors  to  the 
veranda  as  they  started  to  their  cabin  for 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  97 

the  night.  Clay  was  asking  Mr.  Langham  when 
he  wished  to  visit  the  mines,  and  the  others  were 
laughing  over  farewell  speeches,  when  young 
Langham  startled  them  all  by  hurrying  down 
the  length  of  the  veranda  and  calling  on  them 
to  follow. 

"  Look ! "  he  cried,  pointing  down  the  inlet. 
"  Here  conies  a  man-of-war,  or  a  yacht.  Is  n't 
she  smart-looking  ?  What  can  she  want  here  at 
this  hour  of  the  night?  They  won't  let  them 
land.  Can  you  make  her  out,  Mac  Williams  ?" 

A  long,  white  ship  was  steaming  slowly  up 
the  inlet,  and  passed  within  a  few  hundred  feet 
of  the  cliff  on  which  they  were  standing. 

"  Why,  it 's  the  <  Vesta ' !  "  exclaimed  Hope, 
wonderingly.  "  I  thought  she  was  n't  coming 
for  a  week  ? " 

"  It  can't  be  the  c  Vesta  ' !  "  said  the  elder  sis 
ter  ;  "  she  was  not  to  have  sailed  from  Havana 
until  to-day." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ? "  asked  Langham.  "  Is 
it  King's  boat  ?  Do  you  expect  him  here  ?  Oh, 
what  fun  !  I  say,  Clay,  here 's  the  c  Vesta,'  Reggie 
King's  yacht,  and  he 's  no  end  of  a  sport.  We  can 
go  all  over  the  place  now,  and  he  can  land  us 
right  at  the  door  of  the  mines  if  we  want  to." 

"  Is  it  the  King  I  met  at  dinner  that  night  ?" 
asked  Clay,  turning  to  Miss  Langham. 
7 


98  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

"Yes,"  she  said.  "He  wanted  us  to  come 
down  on  the  yacht,  but  we  thought  the  steamer 
would  be  faster;  so  he  sailed  without  us  and 
was  to  have  touched  at  Havana,  but  he  has 
apparently  changed  his  course.  Does  n't  she 
look  like  a  phantom  ship  in  the  moonlight  ? " 

Young  Langham  thought  he  could  distinguish 
King  among  the  white  figures  on  the  bridge,  and 
tossed  his  hat  and  shouted,  and  a  man  in  the 
stern  of  the  yacht  replied  with  a  wave  of  his  hand. 

"  That  must  be  Mr.  King,"  said  Hope.  "  He 
did  n't  bring  any  one  with  him,  and  he  seems  to 
be  the  only  man  aft." 

They  stood  watching  the  yacht  as  she  stopped 
with  a  rattle  of  anchor-chains  and  a  confusion 
of  orders  that  came  sharply  across  the  water, 
and  then  the  party  separated  and  the  three  men 
walked  down  the  hill,  Langham  eagerly  assur 
ing  the  other  two  that  King  was  a  very  good  sort, 
and  telling  them  what  a  treasure-house  his 
yacht  was,  and  how  he  would  have  probably 
brought  the  latest  papers,  and  that  he  would 
certainly  give  a  dance  on  board  in  their  honor. 

The  men  stood  for  some  short  time  together, 
after  they  had  reached  the  office,  discussing  the 
great  events  of  the  day,  and  then  with  cheerful 
good-nights  disappeared  into  their  separate 
rooms. 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  99 

An  hour  later  Clay  stood  without  his  coat, 
and  with  a  pen  in  his  hand,  at  MacWilliams's 
bedside  and  shook  him  by  the  shoulder. 

u  I  'm  not  asleep,"  said  Mac  Williams,  sitting 
up ;  "  what  is  it  ?  What  have  you  been  doing?" 
he  demanded.  "  Not  working  ?  " 

"  There  were  some  reports  came  in  after  we 
left,"  said  Clay,  "  and  I  find  I  will  have  to  see 
Kirkland  to-morrow  morning.  Send  them  word 
to  run  me  down  on  an  engine  at  five-thirty,  will 
you  ?  I  am  sorry  to  have  to  wake  you,  but  I 
could  n't  remember  in  which  shack  that  engi 
neer  lives." 

Mac  Williams  jumped  from  his  bed  and  began 
kicking  about  the  floor  for  his  boots.  "  Oh, 
that's  all  right,"  he  said.  "I  wasn't  asleep,  I 
was  just  — "  he  lowered  his  voice  that  Langham 
might  not  hear  him  through  the  canvas  parti 
tions —  "I  was  just  lying  awake  playing  duets 
with  the  President,  and  racing  for  the  Interna 
tional  Cup  in  my  new  centre-board  yacht,  that's 
all ! " 

Mac  Williams  buttoned  a  waterproof  coat  over 
his  pajamas  and  stamped  his  bare  feet  into  his 
boots.  "  Oh,  I  tell  you,  Clay,"  he  said  with  a 
grim  chuckle,  "  we  're  mixing  right  in  with  the 
four  hundred,  we  are  !  I  'm  substitute  and  under 
study  when  anybody  gets  ill.  We  're  right  in 


100  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

our  own  class  at  last !  Pure  amateurs  with  no 
professional  record  against  us.  Me  and  Presi 
dent  Langham,  I  guess ! "  He  struck  a  match 
and  lit  the  smoky  wick  in  a  tin  lantern. 

"  But  now,"  he  said,  cheerfully,  "  my  time 
being  too  valuable  for  me  to  sleep,  I  will  go 
wake  up  that  nigger  engine-driver  and  set  his 
alarm  clock  at  five-thirty.  Five-thirty,  I  believe 
you  said.  All  right ;  good-night."  And  whist 
ling  cheerfully  to  himself  MacWilliams  disap 
peared  up  the  hill,  his  body  hidden  in  the 
darkness  and  his  legs  showing  fantastically  in 
the  light  of  the  swinging  lantern. 

Clay  walked  out  upon  the  veranda  and  stood 
with  his  back  to  one  of  the  pillars.  MacWil 
liams  and  his  pleasantries  disturbed  and 
troubled  him.  Perhaps,  after  all,  the  boy  was 
right.  It  seemed  absurd,  but  it  was  true.  They 
were  only  employees  of  Langham  —  two  of  the 
thousands  of  young  men  who  were  working  all 
over  the  United  States  to  please  him,  to  make 
him  richer,  to  whom  he  was  only  a  name  and  a 
power,  which  meant  an  increase  of  salary  or  the 
loss  of  place. 

Clay  laughed  and  shrugged  his  shoulders. 
He  knew  that  he  was  not  in  that  class ;  if  he 
did  good  work  it  was  because  his  self-respect 
demanded  it  of  him  ;  he  did  not  work  for  Lang- 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  lM 

ham  or  the  Olancho  Mining  Company  (Limited). 
And  yet  he  turned  with  almost  a  feeling  of 
resentment  toward  the  white  yacht  lying  calmly 
in  magnificent  repose  a  hundred  yards  from  his 
porch. 

He  could  see  her  as  clearly  in  her  circle  of 
electric  lights  as  though  she  were  a  picture  and 
held  in  the  light  of  a  stereopticon  on  a  screen. 
He  could  see  her  white  decks,  and  the  rails  of 
polished  brass,  and  the  comfortable  wicker 
chairs  and  gay  cushions  and  flat  coils  of  rope, 
and  the  tapering  masts  and  intricate  rigging. 
How  easy  it  was  made  for  some  men !  This  one 
had  come  like  the  prince  in  the  fairy  tale  on  his 
magic  carpet.  If  Alice  Langham  were  to  leave 
Valencia  that  next  day,  Clay  could  not  follow 
her.  He  had  his  duties  and  responsibilities  ;  he 
was  at  another  man's  bidding. 

But  this  Prince  Fortunatus  had  but  to  raise 
anchor  and  start  in  pursuit,  knowing  that  he 
would  be  welcome  wherever  he  found  her.  That 
was  the  worst  of  it  to  Clay,  for  he  knew  that 
men  did  not  follow  women  from  continent  to 
continent  without  some  assurance  of  a  friendly 
greeting.  Clay's  mind  went  back  to  the  days 
when  he  was  a  boy,  when  his  father  was  absent 
fighting  for  a  lost  cause ;  when  his  mother 
taught  in  a  little  schoolhouse  under  the  shadow 


1*02  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

of  Pike's  Peak,  and  when  Kit  Carson  was  his 
hero.  He  thought  of  the  poverty  of  those  days 
—  poverty  so  mean  and  hopeless  that  it  was 
almost  something  to  feel  shame  for ;  of  the  days 
that  followed  when,  an  orphan  and  without  a 
home,  he  had  sailed  away  from  New  Orleans  to 
the  Cape.  How  the  mind  of  the  mathematician, 
which  he  had  inherited  from  the  Boston  school 
mistress,  had  been  swayed  by  the  spirit  of  the 
soldier,  which  he  had  inherited  from  his  father, 
and  which  led  him  from  the  mines  of  South 
Africa  to  little  wars  in  Madagascar,  Egypt,  and 
Algiers.  It  had  been  a  life  as  restless  as  the 
seaweed  on  a  rock.  But  as  he  looked  back  to 
its  poor  beginnings  and  admitted  to  himself  its 
later  successes,  he  gave  a  sigh  of  content,  and 
shaking  off  the  mood  stood  up  and  paced  the 
length  of  the  veranda. 

He  looked  up  the  hill  to  the  low-roofed  bun 
galow  with  the  palm-leaves  about  it,  outlined 
against  the  sky,  and  as  motionless  as  patterns 
cut  in  tin.  He  had  built  that  house.  He 
had  built  it  for  her.  That  was  her  room 
where  the  light  was  shining  out  from  the 
black  bulk  of  the  house  about  it  like  a  star. 
And  beyond  the  house  he  saw  his  five  great 
mountains,  the  knuckles  of  the  giant  hand,  with 
its  gauntlet  of  iron  that  lay  shut  and  clenched 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  103 

in  the  face  of  the  sea  that  swept  up  whimpering 
before  it.  Clay  felt  a  boyish,  foolish  pride  rise 
in  his  breast  as  he  looked  toward  the  great 
mines  he  had  discovered  and  opened,  at  the  iron 
mountains  that  were  crumbling  away  before  his 
touch. 

He  turned  his  eyes  again  to  the  blazing  yacht, 
and  this  time  there  was  no  trace  of  envy  in 
them.  He  laughed  instead,  partly  with  pleasure 
at  the  thought  of  the  struggle  he  scented  in  the 
air,  and  partly  at  his  own  braggadocio. 

"  I  'm  not  afraid,"  he  said,  smiling,  and  shak 
ing  his  head  at  the  white  ship  that  loomed  up 
like  a  man-of-war  in  the  black  waters.  "I'm 
not  afraid  to  fight  you  for  anything  worth  fight 
ing  for." 

He  bowed  his  bared  head  in  good-night  toward 
the  light  on  the  hill,  as  he  turned  and  walked 
back  into  his  bedroom.  "  And  I  think,"  he  mur 
mured  grimly,  as  he  put  out  the  light,  "  that 
she  is  worth  fighting  for." 


IV 


THE  work  which  had  called  Clay  to  the  mines 
kept  him  there  for  some  time,  and  it  was  not 
until  the  third  day  after  the  arrival  of  the  Lang- 
hams  that  he  returned  again  to  the  Palms.  On 
the  afternoon  when  he  climbed  the  hill  to  the 
bungalow  he  found  the  Langhams  as  he  had 
left  them,  with  the  difference  that  King  now 
occupied  a  place  in  the  family  circle.  Clay  was 
made  so  welcome,  and  especially  so  by  King, 
that  he  felt  rather  ashamed  of  his  sentiments 
toward  him,  and  considered  his  three  days  of 
absence  to  be  well  repaid  by  the  heartiness  of 
their  greeting. 

"  For  myself,"  said  Mr.  Langham,  "  I  don't 
believe  you  had  anything  to  do  at  the  mines  at 
all.  I  think  you  went  away  just  to  show  us 
how  necessary  you  are.  But  if  you  want  me  to 
make  a  good  report  of  our  resident  director  on 
my  return,  you  had  better  devote  yourself  less 
to  the  mines  while  you  are  here  and  more  to 
us."  Clay  said  he  was  glad  to  find  that  his 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  105 

duties  were  to  be  of  so  pleasant  a  nature,  and 
asked  them  what  they  had  seen  and  what  they 
had  done. 

They  told  him  they  had  been  nowhere,  but 
had  waited  for  his  return  in  order  that  he  might 
act  as  their  guide. 

"  Then  you  should  see  the  city  at  once,"  said 
Clay,  "  and  I  will  have  the  volante  brought  to  the 
door,  and  we  can  all  go  in  this  afternoon.  There 
is  room  for  the  four  of  you  inside,  and  I  can  sit 
on  the  box-seat  with  the  driver." 

"  No,"  said  King,  "  let  Hope  or  me  sit  on  the 
box-seat.  Then  we  can  practise  our  Spanish  on 
the  driver." 

"  Not  very  well,"  Clay  replied, "  for  the  driver 
sits  on  the  first  horse,  like  a  postilion.  It's  a 
sort  of  tandem  without  reins.  Have  n't  you  seen 
it  yet?  We  consider  the  volante  our  proudest 
exhibit."  So  Clay  ordered  the  volante  to  be 
brought  out,  and  placed  them  facing  each  other 
in  the  open  carriage,  while  he  climbed  to  the 
box-seat,  from  which  position  of  vantage  he 
pointed  out  and  explained  the  objects  of  interest 
they  passed,  after  the  manner  of  a  professional 
guide.  It  was  a  warm,  beautiful  afternoon,  and 
the  clear  mists  of  the  atmosphere  intensified  the 
rich  blue  of  the  sky,  and  the  brilliant  colors  of 
the  houses,  and  the  different  shades  of  green  of 


106  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

the  trees  and  bushes  that  lined  the  highroad  to 
the  capital. 

"To  the  right,  as  we  descend,"  said  Clay, 
speaking  over  his  shoulder,  "  you  see  a  tin 
house.  It  is  the  home  of  the  resident  director 
of  the  Olancho  Mining  Company  (Limited),  and 
of  his  able  lieutenants,  Mr.  Theodore  Langham 
and  Mr.  Mac  Williams.  The  building  on  the 
extreme  left  is  the  round-house,  in  which  Mr. 
MacWilliams  stores  his  three  locomotive  en 
gines,  and  in  the  far  middle-distance  is  Mr. 
MacWilliams  himself  in  the  act  of  repairing  a 
water-tank.  He  is  the  one  in  a  suit  of  blue 
overalls,  and  as  his  language  at  such  times  is 
free,  we  will  drive  rapidly  on  and  not  embarrass 
him.  Besides,"  added  the  engineer,  with  the 
happy  laugh  of  a  boy  who  had  been  treated  to  a 
holiday,  "  I  am  sure  that  I  am  not  setting  him 
the  example  of  fixity  to  duty  which  he  should 
expect  from  his  chief." 

They  passed  between  high  hedges  of  Spanish 
bayonet,  and  came  to  mud  cabins  thatched  with 
palm-leaves,  and  alive  with  naked,  little  brown- 
bodied  children,  who  laughed  and  cheered  to 
them  as  they  passed. 

"  It 's  a  very  beautiful  country  for  the  pueblo" 
was  Clay's  comment.  "  Different  parts  of  the 
same  tree  furnish  them  with  food,  shelter,  and 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  107 

clothing,  and  the  sun  gives  them  fuel,  and  the 
Government  changes  so  often  that  they  can 
always  dodge  the  tax-collector." 

From  the  mud  cabins  they  came  to  more 
substantial  one-story  houses  of  adobe,  with  the 
walls  painted  in  two  distinct  colors,  blue,  pink, 
or  yellow,  with  red-tiled  roofs,  and  the  names 
with  which  they  had  been  christened  in  bold 
black  letters  above  the  entrances.  Then  the 
carriage  rattled  over  paved  streets,  and  they 
drove  between  houses  of  two  stories  painted 
more  decorously  in  pink  and  light  blue,  with 
wide-open  windows,  guarded  by  heavy  bars  of 
finely  wrought  iron  and  ornamented  with  scroll 
work  in  stucco.  The  principal  streets  were 
given  up  to  stores  and  cafes,  all  wide  open  to 
the  pavement  and  protected  from  the  sun  by 
brilliantly  striped  awnings,  and  gay  with  the 
national  colors  of  Olancho  in  flags  and  streamers. 
Tn  front  of  them  sat  officers  in  uniform,  and  the 
dark-skinned  dandies  of  Valencia,  in  white  duck 
suits  and  Panama  hats,  toying  with  tortoise- 
shell  canes,  whicli  could  be  converted,  if  the 
occasion  demanded,  into  blades  of  Toledo  steel. 
In  the  streets  were  priests  and  bare-legged 
mule-drivers,  and  ragged  ranchmen  with  red- 
caped  cloaks  hanging  to  their  sandals,  and  ne 
gro  women,  with  bare  shoulders  and  long  trains, 


108  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

vending  lottery  tickets'  and  rolling  huge  cigars 
between  their  lips.  It  was  an  old  story  to  Clay 
and  King,  but  none  of  the  others  had  seen  a 
Spanish-American  city  before  ;  they  were  famil 
iar  with  the  Far  East  and  the  Mediterranean, 
but  not  with  the  fierce,  hot  tropics  of  their  sis 
ter  continent,  and  so  their  eyes  were  wide  open, 
and  they  kept  calling  continually  to  one  another 
to  notice  some  new  place  or  figure. 

They  in  their  turn  did  not  escape  from  notice 
or  comment.  The  two  sisters  would  have  been 
conspicuous  anywhere  —  in  a  queen's  drawing- 
room  or  on  an  Indian  reservation.  Theirs  was 
a  type  that  the  caballeros  and  senoritas  did  not 
know.  With  them  dark  hair  was  always  asso 
ciated  with  dark  complexions,  the  rich  duskiness 
of  which  was  always  vulgarized  by  a  coat  of 
powder,  and  this  fair  blending  of  pink  and  white 
skin  under  masses  of  black  hair  was  strangely 
new,  so  that  each  of  the  few  women  who  were 
to  be  met  on  the  street  turned  to  look  after 
the  carriage,  while  the  American  women  ad 
mired  their  mantillas,  and  felt  that  the  straw 
sailor-hats  they  wore  had  become  heavy  and 
unfeminine. 

Clay  was  very  happy  in  picking  out  what  was 
most  characteristic  and  picturesque,  and  every 
street  into  which  he  directed  the  driver  to  take 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  109 

them  seemed  to  possess  some  building  or  monu 
ment  that  was  of  peculiar  interest.  They  did 
not  know  that  he  had  mapped  out  this  ride 
many  times  before,  and  was  taking  them  over 
a  route  which  he  had  already  travelled  with  them 
in  imagination.  King  knew  what  the  capital 
would  be  like  before  he  entered  it,  from  his 
experience  of  other  South  American  cities,  but 
he  acted  as  though  it  were  all  new  to  him,  and 
allowed  Clay  to  explain,  and  to  give  the  reason 
for  those  features  of  the  place  that  were  unusual 
and  characteristic.  Clay  noticed  this  and  ap 
pealed  to  him  from  time  to  time,  when  he  was 
in  doubt;  but  the  other  only  smiled  back  and 
shook  his  head,  as  much  as  to  say,  "  This  is 
your  city ;  they  would  rather  hear  about  it  from 
you." 

Clay  took  them  to  the  principal  shops,  where 
the  two  girls  held  whispered  consultations  over 
lace  mantillas,  which  they  had  at  once  deter 
mined  to  adopt,  and  bought  the  gorgeous  paper 
fans,  covered  with  brilliant  pictures  of  bull 
fighters  in  suits  of  silver  tinsel ;  and  from  these 
open  stores  he  led  them  to  a  dingy  little  shop, 
where  there  was  old  silver  and  precious  hand- 
painted  fans  of  mother-of-pearl  that  had  been 
pawned  by  families  who  had  risked  and  lost  all 
in  some  revolution ;  and  then  to  another  shop, 


110  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

where  two  old  maiden  ladies  made  a  particu 
larly  good  guava;  and  to  tobacconists,  where 
the  men  bought  a  few  of  the  native  cigars, 
which,  as  they  were  a  monopoly  of  the  Gov 
ernment,  were  as  bad  as  Government  monopo 
lies  always  are. 

Clay  felt  a  sudden  fondness  for  the  city,  so 
grateful  was  he  to  it  for  entertaining  her  as  it 
did,  and  for  putting  its  best  front  forward  for 
her  delectation.  He  wanted  to  thank  some  one 
for  building  the  quaint  old  convent,  with  its 
yellow  walls  washed  to  an  orange  tint,  and 
black  in  spots  with  dampness ;  and  for  the 
fountain  covered  with  green  moss  that  stood 
before  its  gate,  and  around  which  were  gath 
ered  the  girls  and  women  of  the  neighborhood 
with  red  water-jars  on  their  shoulders,  arid  little 
donkeys  buried  under  stacks  of  yellow  sugar 
cane,  and  the  negro  drivers  of  the  city's  green 
water-carts,  and  the  blue  wagons  that  carried 
the  manufactured  ice.  Toward  live  o'clock  they 
decided  to  spend  the  rest  of  the  day  in  the  city, 
and  to  telephone  for  the  two  boys  to  join  them 
at  La  Venus,  the  great  restaurant  on  the  plaza, 
where  Clay  had  invited  them  to  dine. 

He  suggested  that  they  should  fill  out  the 
time  meanwhile  by  a  call  on  the  President,  and 
after  a  search  for  cards  in  various  pocketbooks, 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  111 

they  drove  to  the  Government  palace,  which  stood 
in  an  open  square  in  the  heart  of  the  city. 

As  they  arrived  the  President  and  his  wife 
were  leaving  for  their  afternoon  drive  on  the 
Alameda,  the  fashionable  parade-ground  of  the 
city,  and  the  state  carriage  and  a  squad  of 
cavalry  appeared  from  the  side  of  the  palace 
as  the  visitors  drove  up  to  the  entrance. 
But  at  the  sight  of  Clay,  General  Alvarez  and 
his  wife  retreated  to  the  house  again  and  made 
them  welcome.  The  President  led  the  men  into 
his  reception-room  and  entertained  them  with 
champagne  and  cigarettes,  not  manufactured  by 
his  Government ;  and  his  wife,  after  first  con 
ducting  the  girls  through  the  state  drawing- 
room,  where  the  late  sunlight  shone  gloomily 
on  strange  old  portraits  of  assassinated  presi 
dents  and  victorious  generals,  and  garish  yellow 
silk  furniture,  brought  them  to  her  own  apart 
ments,  and  gave  them  tea  after  a  civilized  fash 
ion,  and  showed  them  how  glad  she  was  to  see 
some  one  of  her  own  world  again. 

During  their  short  visit  Madame  Alvarez 
talked  a.  greater  part  of  the  time  herself,  ad 
dressing  what  she  said  to  Miss  Langham,  but 
looking  at  Hope.  It  was  unusual  for  Hope  to 
be  singled  out  in  this  way  when  her  sister  was 
present,  and  both  the  sisters  noticed  it  and 


112  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

spoke  of  it  afterwards.  They  thought  Madame 
Alvarez  very  beautiful  and  distinguished-look 
ing,  and  she  impressed  them,  even  after  that 
short  knowledge  of  her,  as  a  woman  of  great 
force  of  character. 

"  She  was  very  well  dressed  for  a  Spanish 
woman,"  was  Miss  Langham's  comment,  later 
in  the  afternoon.  u  But  everything  she  had  on 
was  just  a  year  behind  the  fashions,  or  twelve 
steamer  days  behind,  as  Mr.  MacWilliams  puts 
it." 

u  She  reminded  me,"  said  Hope,  u  of  a  black 
panther  I  saw  once  in  a  circus." 

"  Dear  me  ! "  exclaimed  the  sister,  "  I  don't 
see  that  at  all.  Why?" 

Hope  said  she  did  not  know  why ;  she  was 
not  given  to  analyzing  her  impressions  or  offer 
ing  reasons  for  them.  "  Because  the  panther 
looked  so  unhappy,"  she  explained,  doubtfully, 
"  and  restless ;  and  he  kept  pacing  up  and  down 
all  the  time,  and  hitting  his  head  against  the 
bars  as  he  walked  as  though  he  liked  the  pain. 
Madame  Alvarez  seemed  to  me  to  be  just  like 
that  —  as  though  she  were  shut  up  somewhere 
and  wanted  to  be  free." 

When  Madame  Alvarez  and  the  two  sisters 
had  joined  the  men,  they  all  walked  together  to 
the  terrace,  and  the  visitors  waited  until  the 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  113 

President  and  his  wife  should  take  their  depar 
ture.  Hope  noticed,  in  advance  of  the  escort  of 
native  cavalry,  an  auburn-haired,  fair-skinned 
young  man  who  was  sitting  an  English  saddle. 
The  officer's  eyes  were  blue  and  frank  and  at 
tractive-looking,  even  as  they  then  were  fixed 
ahead  of  him  with  a  military  lack  of  expres 
sion  ;  but  he  came  to  life  very  suddenly  when 
the  President  called  to  him,  and  prodded  his 
horse  up  to  the  steps  and  dismounted.  He  was 
introduced  by  Alvarez  as  "  Captain  Stuart  of  my 
household  troops,  late  of  the  Gordon  High 
landers.  Captain  Stuart,"  said  the  President, 
laying  his  hand  affectionately  on  the  younger 
man's  epaulette,  "  takes  care  of  my  life  and  the 
safety  of  my  home  and  family.  He  could  have 
the  command  of  the  army  if  he  wished ;  but  no, 
he  is  fond  of  us,  and  he  tells  me  we  are  in  more 
need  of  protection  from  our  friends  at  home 
than  from  our  enemies  on  the  frontier.  Perhaps 
he  knows  best.  I  trust  him,  Mr.  Langham," 
added  the  President,  solemnly,  "  as  I  trust  no 
other  man  in  all  this  country." 

u  I  am  very  glad  to  meet  Captain  Stuart,  I  am 
sure,"  said  Mr.  Langham,  smiling,  and  appreci 
ating  how  the  shyness  of  the  Englishman  must 
be  suffering  under  the  praises  of  the  Spaniard. 
And  Stuart  was  indeed  so  embarrassed  that  he 
8 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 


flushed  under  his  tan,  and  assured  Clay,  while 
shaking  hands  with  them  all,  that  he  was 
delighted  to  make  his  acquaintance  ;  at  which 
the  others  laughed,  and  Stuart  came  to  himself 
sufficiently  to  laugh  with  them,  and  to  accept 
Clay's  invitation  to  dine  with  them  later. 

They  found  the  two  boys  waiting  in  the  cafe* 
of  the  restaurant  where  they  had  arranged  to 
meet,  and  they  ascended  the  steps  together  to 
the  tahle  on  the  balcony  that  Clay  had  reserved 
for  them. 

The  young  engineer  appeared  at  his  best  as 
host.  The  responsibility  of  seeing  that  a  half- 
dozen  others  were  amused  and  content  sat  well 
upon  him  ;  and  as  course  followed  course,  and 
the  wines  changed,  and  the  candles  left  the 
rest  of  the  room  in  darkness  and  showed  only 
the  table  and  the  faces  around  it,  they  all  be 
came  rapidly  more  merry  and  the  conversation 
intimately  familiar. 

Clay  knew  the  kind  of  table-talk  to  which  the 
Langhams  were  accustomed,  and  used  the  mate 
rial  around  his  table  in  such  a  way  that  the  talk 
there  was  vastly  different.  From  King  he  drew 
forth  tales  of  the  buried  cities  he  had  first 
explored,  and  then  robbed  of  their  ugliest  idols. 
He  urged  MacWilliams  to  tell  carefully  edited 
stories  of  life  along  the  Chagres  before  the  Scan- 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  115 

dal  came,  and  of  the  fastnesses  of  the  Andes ; 
and  even  Stuart  grew  braver  and  remembered 
u  something  of  the  same  sort "  he  had  seen  at 
Fort  Nilt,  in  Upper  Burma. 

"  Of  course,"  was  Clay's  comment  at  the  con 
clusion  of  one  of  these  narratives,  "being  an 
Englishman,  Stuart  left  out  the  point  of  the 
story,  which  was  that  he  blew  in  the  gates  of 
the  fort  with  a  charge  of  dynamite.  He  got  a 
D.  S.  0.  for  doing  it." 

"  Being  an  Englishman,"  said  Hope,  smiling 
encouragingly  on  the  conscious  Stuart,  "  he  nat 
urally  would  leave  that  out." 

Mr.  Langham  and  his  daughters  formed  an 
eager  audience.  They  had  never  before  met  at 
one  table  three  men  who  had  known  such  expe 
riences,  and  who  spoke  of  them  as  though  they 
must  be  as  familiar  in  the  lives  of  the  others  as 
in  their  own  —  men  who  spoiled  in  the  telling 
stories  that  would  have  furnished  incidents  for 
melodramas,  and  who  impressed  their  hearers 
more  with  what  they  left  unsaid,  and  what  was 
only  suggested,  than  what  in  their  view  was  the 
most  important  point. 

The  dinner  came  to  an  end  at  last,  and  Mr. 
Langham  proposed  that  they  should  go  down 
and  walk  with  the  people  in  the  plaza ;  but  his 
two  daughters  preferred  to  remain  as  spectators 


116  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

on  the  balcony,  and  Clay  and  Stuart  stayed 
with  them. 

"  At  last ! "  sighed  Clay,  under  his  breath, 
seating  himself  at  Miss  Langhani's  side  as  she 
sat  leaning  forward  with  her  arms  upon  the  rail 
ing  and  looking  down  into  the  plaza  below. 
She  made  no  sign  at  first  that  she  had  heard 
him,  but  as  the  voices  of  Stuart  and  Hope  rose 
from  the  other  end  of  the  balcony  she  turned 
her  head  and  asked,  "  Why  at  last  ? " 

"  Oh,  you  could  n't  understand,"  laughed  Clay. 
"  You  have  not  been  looking  forward  to  just  one 
thing  and  then  had  it  come  true.  It  is  the  only 
thing  that  ever  did  come  true  to  me,  and  I 
thought  it  never  would." 

"  You  don't  try  to  make  me  understand,"  said 
the  girl,  smiling,  but  without  turning  her 
eyes  from  the  moving  spectacle  below  her. 
Clay  considered  her  challenge  silently.  He  did 
not  know  just  how  much  it  might  mean  from 
her,  and  the  smile  robbed  it  of  all  serious  in 
tent;  so  he,  too,  turned  and  looked  down  into 
the  great  square  below  them,  content,  now  that 
she  was  alone  with  him,  to  take  his  time. 

At  one  end  of  the  plaza  the  President's  band 
was  playing  native  waltzes  that  came  throbbing 
through  the  trees  and  beating  softly  above  the 
rustling  skirts  and  clinking  spurs  of  the  sen- 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  117 

oritas  and  officers,  sweeping  by  in  two  opposite 
circles  around  the  edges  of  the  tessellated  pave 
ments.  Above  the  palms  around  the  square 
arose  the  dim,  white  facade  of  the  cathedral, 
with  the  bronze  statue  of  Anduella,  the  liberator 
of  Olancho,  who  answered  with  his  upraised 
arm  and  cocked  hat  the  cheers  of  an  imaginary 
populace.  Clay's  had  been  an  unobtrusive  part 
in  the  evening's  entertainment,  but  he  saw  that 
the  others  had  been  pleased,  and  felt  a  certain 
satisfaction  in  thinking  that  King  himself  could 
not  have  planned  and  carried  out  a  dinner  more 
admirable  in  every  way.  He  was  gratified  that 
they  should  know  him  to  be  not  altogether  a 
barbarian.  But  Avhat  he  best  liked  to  remember 
was  that  whenever  he  had  spoken  she  had  lis 
tened,  even  when  her  eyes  were  turned  away  and 
she  was  pretending  to  listen  to  someone  else. 
He  tormented  himself  by  wondering  whether 
this  was  because  he  interested  her  only  as  a 
new  and  strange  character,  or  whether  she  felt 
in  some  way  how  eagerly  he  was  seeking  her 
approbation.  For  the  first  time  in  his  life  he 
found  himself  considering  what  he  was  about  to 
say,  and  he  suited  for  her  possible  liking.  It 
was  at  least  some  satisfaction  that  she  had,  if 
only  for  the  time  being,  singled  him  out  as  of 
especial  interest,  and  he  assured  himself  that  the 


118  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

fault  would  be  his  if  her  interest  failed.  He  no 
longer  looked  on  himself  as  an  outsider. 

Stuart's  voice  arose  from  the  farther  end  of 
the  balcony,  where  the  white  figure  of  Hope 
showed  dimly  in  the  darkness. 

"  They  are  talking  about  you  over  there,"  said 
Miss  Langham,  turning  toward  him. 

"Well,  I  don't  mind,"  answered  Clay,  uas 
long  as  they  talk  about  me — over  there." 

Miss  Langham  shook  her  head.  "  You  are 
very  frank  and  audacious,"  she  replied,  doubt 
fully,  "  but  it  is  rather  pleasant  as  a  change." 

"  I  don't  call  that  audacious,  to  say  I  don't 
want  to  be  interrupted  when  I  am  talking  to  you. 
Are  n't  the  men  you  meet  generally  audacious  ?  " 
he  asked.  "I  can  see  why  not  —  though,"  he 
continued,  "  you  awe  them." 

"  I  can't  think  that 's  a  nice  way  to  affect 
people,"  protested  Miss  Langham,  after  a  pause. 
"  I  don't  awe  you,  do  I  ? " 

"  Oh,  you  affect  me  in  many  different  ways," 
returned  Clay,  cheerfully.  "  Sometimes  I  am 
very  much  afraid  of  you,  and  then  again  my  feel 
ings  are  only  those  of  unlimited  admiration." 

"There,  again,  what  did  I  tell  you?"  said 
Miss  Langham. 

"  Well,  I  can't  help  doing  that,"  said  Clay. 
"  That  is  one  of  the  few  privileges  that  is  left 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  119 

to  a  man  in  my  position  —  it  docs  n't  matter 
what  I  say.  That  is  the  advantage  of  being  of 
no  account  and  hopelessly  detrimental.  The 
eligible  men  of  the  world,  you  see,  have  to  be 
so  very  careful.  A  Prime  Minister,  for  instance, 
can't  talk  as  he  wishes,  and  call  names  if  he 
wants  to,  or  write  letters,  even.  Whatever  he 
says  is  so  important,  because  he  says  it,  that 
he  must  be  very  discreet.  I  am  so  unimpor 
tant  that  no  one  minds  what  I  say,  and  so  I  say 
it.  It 's  the  only  comfort  I  have." 

"Are  you  in  the  habit  of  going  around  the 
world  saying  whatever  you  choose  to  every  wo 
man  you  happen  to  —  to-  '  Miss  Langham 
hesitated. 

"To  admire  very  much,"  suggested  Clay. 

"  To  meet,"  corrected  Miss  Langham.  "  Be 
cause,  if  you  are,  it  is  a  very  dangerous  and 
selfish  practice,  and  I  think  your  theory  of  non- 
responsibility  is  a  very  wicked  one." 

"  Well,  I  would  n't  say  it  to  a  child,"  mused 
Clay,  "  but  to  one  who  must  have  heard  it  be 
fore— " 

"  And  who,  you  think,  would  like  to  hear  it 
again,  perhaps,"  interrupted  Miss  Langham. 

"  No,  not  at  all,"  said  Clay.  "  I  don't  say  it 
to  give  her  pleasure,  but  because  it  gives  me 
pleasure  to  say  what  I  think." 


120  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

"If  we  are  to  continue  good  friends,  Mr. 
Clay/'  said  Miss  Langham,  in  decisive  tones, 
"  we  must  keep  our  relationship  on  more  of  a 
social  and  less  of  a  personal  basis.  It  was  all 
very  well  that  first  night  I  met  you,"  she  went 
on.  in  a  kindly  tone.  "  You  rushed  in  then  and 
by  a  sort  of  tour  deforce  made  me  think  a  great 
deal  about  myself  and  also  about  you.  Your 
stories  of  cherished  photographs  and  distant 
devotion  and  all  that  were  very  interesting; 
but  now  we  are  to  be  together  a  great  deal,  and 
if  we  are  to  talk  about  ourselves  all  the  time,  I 
for  one  shall  grow  very  tired  of  it.  As  a  matter 
of  fact  you  don't  know  what  your  feelings  are 
concerning  me,  and  until  you  do  we  will  talk 
less  about  them  and  more  about  the  things  you 
are  certain  of.  When  are  you  going  to  take  us 
to  the  mines,  for  instance,  and  who  was  Andu- 
ella,  the  Liberator  of  Olancho,  on  that  ped 
estal  over  there  ?  Now,  is  n't  that  much  more 
instructive  ?  " 

Clay  smiled  grimly  and  made  no  answer,  but 
sat  with  knitted  brows  looking  out  across  the 
trees  of  the  plaza.  His  face  was  so  serious  and 
he  was  apparently  giving  such  earnest  consider 
ation  to  what  she  had  said  that  Miss  Langham 
felt  an  uneasy  sense  of  remorse.  And,  more 
over,  the  young  man's  profile,  as  he  sat  looking 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  121 

away  from  her,  was  very  fine,  and  the  head  on 
his  broad  shoulders  was  as  well-modelled  as  the 
head  of  an  Athenian  statue.  Miss  Langham 
was  not  insensible  to  beauty  of  any  sort,  and 
she  regarded  the  profile  with  perplexity  and 
with  a  softening  spirit. 

"  You  understand,"  she  said,  gently,  being 
quite  certain  that  she  did  not  understand  this 
new  order  of  young  man  herself.  "  You  are 
not  offended  with  me  ? "  she  asked. 

Clay  turned  and  frowned,  and  then  smiled  in 
a  puzzled  way  and  stretched  out  his  hand  toward 
the  equestrian  statue  in  the  plaza.  "  Aridulla 
or  Anduella,  the  Treaty-Maker,  as  they  call  him, 
was  born  in  1700,"  he  said;  "he  was  a  most 
picturesque  sort  of  a  chap,  and  freed  this  coun 
try  from  the  yoke  of  Spain.  One  of  the  stories 
they  tell  of  him  gives  you  a  good  idea  of  his 
character."  And  so,  without  any  change  of 
expression  or  reference  to  what  had  just  passed 
between  them,  Clay  continued  through  the  re 
mainder  of  their  stay  on  the  balcony  to  dis 
course  in  humorous,  graphic  phrases  on  the 
history  of  Olancho,  its  heroes,  and  its  revolu 
tions,  the  buccaneers  and  pirates  of  the  old 
days,  and  the  concession-hunters  and  filibusters 
of  the  present.  It  was  some  time  before  Miss 
Langham  was  able  to  give  him  her  full  atten- 


122  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

tion,  for  she  was  considering  whether  he  could 
be  so  foolish  as  to  have  taken  offence  at  what 
she  said,  and  whether  he  would  speak  of  it 
again,  and  in  wondering  whether  a  personal 
basis  for  conversation  was  not,  after  all,  more 
entertaining  than  anecdotes  of  the  victories  and 
heroism  of  dead  and  buried  Spaniards. 

"  That  Captain  Stuart,"  said  Hope  to  her  sis 
ter,  as  they  drove  home  together  through  the 
moonlight,  "  I  like  him  very  much.  He  seems 
to  have  such  a  simple  idea  of  what  is  right  and 
good.  It  is  like  a  child  talking.  Why,  I  am 
really  much  older  than  he  is  in  everything  but 
years  —  why  is  that  ?  " 

"  I  suppose  it 's  because  we  always  talk  before 
you  as  though  you  were  a  grown-up  person," 
said  her  sister.  "  But  I  agree  with  you  about 
Captain  Stuart ;  only,  why  is  he  down  here  ? 
If  he  is  a  gentleman,  why  is  he  not  in  his  own 
army  ?  Was  he  forced  to  leave  it  ? " 

"  Oh,  he  seems  to  have  a  very  good  position 
here,"  said  Mr.  Langham.  "  In  England,  at 
his  age,  he  would  be  only  a  second-lieutenant. 
Don't  you  remember  what  the  President  said, 
that  he  would  trust  him  with  the  command  of 
his  army?  That's  certainly  a  responsible  posi 
tion,  and  it  shows  great  confidence  in  him." 

"  Not  so  great,  it  seems  to  me,"  said  King, 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  123 

carelessly,  "as  he  is  showing  him  in  making 
him  the  guardian  of  his  hearth  and  home.  Did 
you  hear  what  he  said  to-day  ?  6  He  guards  my 
home  and  my  family.'  I  don't  think  a  man's 
home  and  family  are  among  the  things  he  can 
afford  to  leave  to  the  protection  of  stray  Eng 
lish  subalterns.  From  all  I  hear,  it  would  be 
better  if  President  Alvarez  did  less  plotting  and 
protected  his  own  house  himself." 

"  The  young  man  did  not  strike  me  as  the 
sort  of  person,"  said  Mr.  Langham,  warmly, 
"  who  would  be  likely  to  break  his  word  to  the 
man  who  is  feeding  him  and  sheltering  him, 
and  whose  uniform  he  wears.  I  don't  think 
the  President's  home  is  in  any  danger  from 
within.  Madame  Alvarez  —  " 

Clay  turned  suddenly  in  his  place  on  the  box- 
seat  of  the  carriage,  where  he  had  been  sitting., 
a  silent,  misty  statue  in  the  moonlight,  and 
peered  down  on  those  in  the  carriage  below  him. 

"  Madame  Alvarez  needs  no  protection,  as  you 
were  about  to  say,  Mr.  Langham,"  he  inter 
rupted,  quickly.  "  Those  who  know  her  could 
say  nothing  against  her,  and  those  who  do  not 
know  her  would  not  so  far  forget  themselves  as 
to  dare  to  do  it.  Have  you  noticed  the  effect 
of  the  moonlight  on  the  walls  of  the  convent  ? " 
he  continued,  gently.  "  It  makes  them  quite 
white." 


124  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

"  No,"  exclaimed  Mr.  Langham  and  King, 
hurriedly,  as  they  both  turned  and  gazed  with 
absorbing  interest  at  the  convent  on  the  hills 
above  them. 

Before  the  sisters  went  to  sleep  that  night 
Hope  came  to  the  door  of  her  sister's  room  and 
watched  Alice  admiringly  as  she  sat  before  the 
mirror  brushing  out  her  hair. 

"  I  think  it 's  going  to  be  fine  down  here ; 
don't  you,  Alice?"  she  asked.  "Everything 
is  so  different  from  what  it  is  at  home,  and  so 
beautiful,  and  I  like  the  men  we  've  met.  Is  n't 
that  Mr.  Mac  Williams  funny  —  and  he  is  so 
tough.  And  Captain  Stuart  —  it  is  a  pity  he's 
shy.  The  only  thing  he  seems  to  be  able  to  talk 
about  is  Mr.  Clay.  He  worships  Mr.  Clay  ! " 

"  Yes,"  assented  her  sister,  "  I  noticed  on  the 
balcony  that  you  seemed  to  have  found  some 
way  to  make  him  speak." 

"  Well,  that  was  it.  He  likes  to  talk  about  Mr. 
Clay,  and  I  wanted  to  listen.  Oh  !  he  is  a  fine 
man.  He  has  done  more  exciting  things  — " 

"  Who  ?     Captain  Stuart  ? " 

"  No  —  Mr.  Clay.  He 's  been  in  three  real 
wars  and  about  a  dozen  little  ones,  and  he's 
built  thousands  of  miles  of  railroads,  I  don't 
know  how  many  thousands,  but  Captain  Stuart 
knows ;  and  he  built  the  highest  bridge  in  Peru. 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  125 

It  swings  in  the  air  across  a  chasm,  and  it 
rocks  when  the  wind  blows.  And  the  German 
Emperor  made  him  a  Baron." 

"Why?" 

"I  don't  know.  I  couldn't  understand.  It 
was  something  about  plans  for  fortifications. 
He,  Mr.  Clay,  put  up  a  fort  in  the  harbor  of  Rio 
Janeiro  during  a  revolution,  and  the  officers  on  a 
German  man-of-war  saw  it  and  copied  the  plans, 
and  the  Germans  built  one  just  like  it,  only 
larger,  on  the  Baltic,  and  when  the  Emperor 
found  out  whose  design  it  was,  he  sent  Mr.  Clay 
the  order  of  something-or-other,  and  made  him 
a  Baron." 

"Really,"  exclaimed  the  elder  sister,  " is  n't 
he  afraid  that  some  one  will  marry  him  for  his 
title?" 

"Oh,  well,  you  can  laugh,  but  I  think  it's 
pretty  fine,  and  so  does  Ted,"  added  Hope,  with 
the  air  of  one  who  propounds  a  final  argument. 

"  Oh,  I  beg  your  pardon,"  laughed  Alice. 
"  If  Ted  approves  we  must  all  go  down  and 
worship." 

"And  father,  too,"  continued  Hope.  "He 
said  he  thought  Mr.  Clay  was  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  men  for  his  years  that  he  had  ever 
met." 

Miss    Langham's    eyes    were  hidden   by  the 


126  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

masses  of  her  black  hair  that  she  had  shaken 
over  her  face,  and  she  said  nothing. 

"  And  I  liked  the  way  he  shut  Reggie  King 
up  too,"  continued  Hope,  stoutly,  "  when  he  and 
father  were  talking  that  way  about  Madame 
Alvarez." 

"  Yes,  upon  my  word,"  exclaimed  her  sister, 
impatiently  tossing  her  hair  back  over  her 
shoulders.  "  I  really  cannot  see  that  Madame 
Alvarez  is  in  need  of  any  champion.  I  thought 
Mr.  Clay  made  it  very  much  worse  by  rushing  in 
the  way  he  did.  Why  should  he  take  it  upon 
himself  to  correct  a  man  as  old  as  my  father  ?  " 

"  I  suppose  because  Madame  Alvarez  is  a 
friend  of  his,"  Hope  answered. 

"  My  dear  child,  a  beautiful  woman  can  always 
find  some  man  to  take  her  part,"  said  Miss 
Langham.  "  But  I  've  no  doubt,"  she  added, 
rising  and  kissing  her  sister  good-night,  "that 
he  is  all  that  your  Captain  Stuart  thinks  him ; 
but  he  is  not  going  to  keep  us  awake  any  longer, 
is  he,  even  if  he  does  show  such  gallant  interest 
in  old  ladies?" 

"  Old  ladies!"  exclaimed  Hope  in  amazement. 
"  Why,  Alice  !  " 

But  her  sister  only  laughed  and  waved  her 
out  of  the  room,  and  Hope  walked  away  frown 
ing  in  much  perplexity. 


THE  visit  to  the  city  was  imitated  on  the  three 
succeeding  evenings  by  similar  excursions.  On 
one  night  they  returned  to  the  plaza,  and  the 
other  two  were  spent  in  drifting  down  the  har 
bor  and  along  the  coast  on  King's  yacht.  The 
President  and  Madame  Alvarez  were  King's 
guests  on  one  of  these  moonlight  excursions, 
and  were  saluted  by  the  proper  number  of  guns, 
and  their  native  band  played  on  the  forward 
deck.  Clay  felt  that  King  held  the  centre  of 
the  stage  for  the  time  being,  and  obliterated 
himself  completely.  He  thought  of  his  own 
paddle-wheel  tug-boat  that  he  had  had  painted 
and  gilded  in  her  honor,  and  smiled  grimly. 

MacWilliams  approached  him  as  he  sat  lean 
ing  back  on  the  rail  and  looking  up,  with  the 
eye  of  a  man  who  had  served  before  the  mast,  at 
the  lace-work  of  spars  and  rigging  above  him. 
MacWilliams  came  toward  him  on  tiptoe  and 
dropped  carefully  into  a  wicker  chair.  «  There 
don't  seem  to  be  any  door-mats  on  this  boat," 


128  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

he  said.  "  In  every  other  respect  she  seems 
fitted  out  quite  complete;  all  the  latest  maga 
zines  and  enamelled  bath-tubs,  and  Chinese 
waiter-boys  with  cock-tails  up  their  sleeves.  But 
there  ought  to  be  a  mat  at  the  top  of  each  of 
those  stairways  that  hang  over  the  side,  other 
wise  some  one  is  sure  to  soil  the  deck.  Have 
you  been  down  in  the  engine-room  yet?"  he 
asked.  "  Well,  don't  go,  then,"  he  advised,  sol 
emnly.  "  It  will  only  make  you  feel  badly.  I 
have  asked  the  Admiral  if  I  can  send  those  half- 
breed  engine  drivers  over  to-morrow  to  show 
them  what  a  clean  engine-room  looks  like.  I  've 
just  been  talking  to  the  chief.  His  name 's  Mac- 
Kenzie,  and  I  told  him  I  was  Scotch  myself,  and 
he  said  it  'was  a  greet  pleesure '  to  find  a  gentle 
man  so  well  acquainted  with  the  movements  of 
machinery.  He  thought  I  was  one  of  King's 
friends,  I  guess,  so  I  did  n't  tell  him  I  pulled  a 
lever  for  a  living  myself.  I  gave  him  a  cigar 
though,  and  he  said  '  Thankee,  sir,'  and  touched 
his  cap  to  me." 

Mac  Williams  chuckled  at  the  recollection,  and 
crossed  his  legs  comfortably.  "  One  of  King's 
cigars,  too,"  he  said.  "  Real  Havana ;  he  leaves 
them  lying  around  loose  in  the  cabin.  Have 
you  had  one  ?  Ted  Langham  and  I  took  about  a 
box  between  us." 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  129 

Clay  made  no  answer,  and  Mac  Williams  set 
tled  himself  contentedly  in  the  great  wicker 
chair  and  puffed  grandly  on  a  huge  cigar. 

"  It 's  demoralizing,  is  n't  it  ?  "  he  said  at  last. 

"  What  ?  "  asked  Clay,  absently. 

"Oh,  this  associating  with  white  people  agai4, 
as  we  're  doing  now.  It  spoils  you  for  tortillas 
and  rice,  does  n't  it  ?  It 's  going  to  be  great  fun 
while  it  lasts,  but  when  they  've  all  gone,  and 
Ted  's  gone,  too,  and  the  yacht 's  vanished,  and 
we  fall  back  to  tramping  around  the  plaza  twice 
a  week,  it  won't  be  gay,  will  it  ?  No ;  it  won't  be 
gay.  We  're  having  the  spree  of  our  lives  now, 
I  guess,  but  there 's  going  to  be  a  difference  in 
the  morning." 

"  Oh,  it 's  worth  a  headache,  I  think,"  said 
Clay,  as  he  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  walked 
away  to  find  Miss  Langham. 

The  day  set  for  the  visit  to  the  mines  rose 
bright  and  clear.  Mac  Williams  had  rigged  out 
his  single  passenger-car  with  rugs  and  cushions, 
and  flags  flew  from  its  canvas  top  that  flapped 
and  billowed  in  the  wind  of  the  slow-moving 
train.  Their  observation-car,  as  Mac  Williams 
termed  it,  was  placed  in  front  of  the  locomotive, 
and  they  were  pushed  gently  along  the  narrow 
rails  between  forests  of  Manaca  palms,  and 
through  swamps  and  jungles,  and  at  times  over 
9 


130  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

the  limestone  formation  along  the  coast,  where 
the  waves  dashed  as  high  as  the  smoke-stack 
of  the  locomotive,  covering  the  excursionists 
with  a  sprinkling  of  white  spray.  Thousands 
of  land-crabs,  painted  red  and  black  and  yellow, 
scrambled  with  a  rattle  like  dead  men's  hones 
across  the  rails  to  be  crushed  by  the  hundreds 
under  the  wheels  of  the  Juggernaut ;  great  liz 
ards  ran  from  sunny  rocks  at  the  sound  of  their 
approach,  and  a  deer  bounded  across  the  tracks 
fifty  feet  in  front  of  the  cow-catcher.  MacWil- 
liams  escorted  Hope  out  into  the  cab  of  the 
locomotive,  and  taught  her  how  to  increase  and 
slacken  the  speed  of  the  engine,  until  she 
showed  an  unruly  desire  to  throw  the  lever  open 
altogether  and  shoot  them  off  the  rails  into  the 
ocean  beyond. 

Clay  sat  at  the  back  of  the  car  with  Miss 
Langham,  and  told  her  and  her  father  of  the 
difficulties  with  which  young  MacWilliams  had 
had  to  contend.  Miss  Langham  found  her  chief 
pleasure  in  noting  the  attention  which  her  father 
gave  to  all  that  Clay  had  to  tell  him.  Knowing 
her  father  as  she  did,  and  being  familiar  with 
his  manner  toward  other  men,  she  knew  that  he 
was  treating  Clay  with  unusual  consideration. 
And  this  pleased  her  greatly,  for  it  justified  her 
own  interest  in  him.  She  regarded  Clay  as  a 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  131 

discovery  of  her  own,  but  she  was  glad  to  have 
her  opinion  of  him  shared  by  others. 

Their  coming  was  a  great  event  in  the  his 
tory  of  the  mines.  Kirkland,  the  foreman,  and 
Chapman,  who  handled  the  dynamite,  Weimct', 
the  Consul,  and  the  native  doctor,  who  cared 
for  the  fever-stricken  and  the  casualties,  were  all 
at  the  station  to  meet  them  in  the  whitest  of  white 
duck  and  with  a  bunch  of  ponies  to  carry  them 
on  their  tour  of  inspection,  and  the  village  of 
mud-cabins  and  zinc-huts  that  stood  clear  of  the 
bare  sun-baked  earth  on  whitewashed  wooden 
piles  was  as  clean  as  Clay's  hundred  policemen 
could  sweep  it.  Mr.  Langharn  rode  in  advance 
of  the  cavalcade,  and  the  head  of  each  of  the 
different  departments  took  his  turn  in  riding  at 
his  side,  and  explained  what  had  been  done,  and 
showed  him  the  proud  result.  The  village  was 
empty,  except  for  the  families  of  the  native 
workmen  and  the  ownerless  dogs,  the  scaven 
gers  of  the  colony,  that  snarled  and  barked  and 
ran  leaping  in  front  of  the  ponies'  heads. 

Rising  abruptly  above  the  zinc  village,  lay  the 
first  of  the  five  great  hills,  with  its  open  front 
cut  into  great  terraces,  on  which  the  men  clung 
like  flies  on  the  side  of  a  wall,  some  of  them  in 
groups  around  an  opening,  or  in  couples  pound 
ing  a  steel  bar  that  a  fellow-workman  turned  in 


132  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

his  bare  hands,  while  others  gathered  about  the 
panting  steam-drills  that  shook  the  solid  rock 
with  fierce,  short  blows,  and  hid  the  men  about 
them  in  a  throbbing  curtain  of  steam.  Self- 
important  little  dummy-engines,  dragging  long 
trains  of  ore-cars,  rolled  and  rocked  on  the  un 
even  surface  of  the  ground,  and  swung  around 
corners  with  warning  screeches  of  their  whistles. 
They  could  see,  on  peaks  outlined  against  the 
sky,  the  signal-men  waving  their  red  flags,  and 
then  plunging  down  the  mountain  side  out  of 
danger,  as  the  earth  rumbled  and  shook  and 
vomited  out  a  shower  of  stones  and  rubbish  into 
the  calm  hot  air.  It  was  a  spectacle  of  desper 
ate  activity  and  puzzling  to  the  uninitiated,  for 
it  seemed  to  be  scattered  over  an  unlimited  ex 
tent,  with  no  head  nor  direction,  and  with  each 
man,  or  each  group  of  men,  working  alone,  like 
rag-pickers  on  a  heap  of  ashes. 

After  the  first  half-hour  of  curious  interest 
Miss  Langham  admitted  to  herself  that  she  was 
disappointed.  She  confessed  she  had  hoped  that 
Clay  would  explain  the  meaning  of  the  mines  to 
her,  and  act  as  her  escort  over  the  mountains 
which  he  was  blowing  into  pieces. 

But  it  was  King,  somewhat  bored  by  the 
ceaseless  noise  and  heat,  and  her  brother,  inco 
herently  enthusiastic,  who  rode  at  her  side,  while 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  133 

Clay  moved  on  in  advance  and  seemed  to  have 
forgotten  her  existence.  She  watched  him 
pointing  up  at  the  openings  in  the  mountains 
and  down  at  the  ore-road,  or  stooping  to  pick 
up  a  piece  of  ore  from  the  ground  in  cow 
boy  fashion,  without  leaving  his  saddle,  and 
pounding  it  on  the  pommel  before  he  passed  it 
to  the  others.  And,  again,  he  would  stand  for 
minutes  at  a  time  up  to  his  boot-tops  in  the 
sliding  waste,  with  his  bridle  rein  over  his  arm 
and  his  thumbs  in  his  belt,  listening  to  what  his 
lieutenants  were  saying,  and  glancing  quickly 
from  them  to  Mr.  Langham  to  see  if  he  were 
following  the  technicalities  of  their  speech.  All 
of  the  men  who  had  welcomed  the  appearance 
of  the  women  on  their  arrival  with  such  obvi 
ous  delight  and  with  so  much  embarrassment 
seemed  now  as  oblivious  of  their  presence  as 
Clay  himself. 

Miss  Langham  pushed  her  horse  up  into  the 
group  beside  Hope,  who  had  kept  her  pony  close 
at  Clay's  side  from  the  beginning ;  but  she  could 
not  make  out  what  it  was  they  were  saying,  and 
no  one  seemed  to  think  it  necessary  to  explain. 
She  caught  Clay's  eye  at  last  and  smiled  brightly 
at  him ;  but,  after  staring  at  her  for  fully  a  min 
ute,  until  Kirkland  had  finished  speaking,  she 
heard  him  say,  "  Yes,  that 's  it  exactly ;  in  open- 


134  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

face  workings  there  is  no  other  way/'  and  so 
showed  her  that  he  had  not  been  even  conscious 
of  her  presence.  But  a  few  minutes  later  she 
saw  him  look  up  at  Hope,  folding  his  arms 
across  his  chest  tightly  and  shaking  his  head. 
"  You  see  it  was  the  only  thing  to  do,"  she 
heard  him  say,  as  though  he  were  defending 
some  course  of  action,  and  -as  though  Hope 
were  one  of  those  who  must  be  convinced.  "  If 
we  had  cut  the  opening  on  the  first  level,  there 
was  the  danger  of  the  whole  thing  sinking 
in,  so  we  had  to  begin  to  clear  away  a,t  the  top 
and  work  down.  That 's  why  I  ordered  the 
bucket-trolley.  As  it  turned  out,  we  saved 
money  by  it." 

Hope  nodded  her  head  slightly.  "  That 's 
what  I  told  father  when  Ted  wrote  us  about  it," 
she  said ;  "  but  you  have  n't  done  it  at  Mount 
Washington." 

"Oh,  but  it's  like  this,  Miss  —  "  Kirkland 
replied,  eagerly.  "  It 's  because  Washington  is 
a  solider  foundation.  We  can  cut  openings  all 
over  it  and  they  won't  cave,  but  this  hill  is 
most  all  rubbish ;  it 's  the  poorest  stuff  in  the 
mines." 

Hope  nodded  her  head  again  and  crowded  her 
pony  on  after  the  moving  group,  but  her  sister 
and  King  did  not  follow.  King  looked  at  her 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  135 

and  smiled.  "  Hope  is  very  enthusiastic,"  he 
said.  "  Where  did  she  pick  it  up?" 

"  Oh,  she  and  father  used  to  go  over  it  in  his 
study  last  winter  after  Ted  came  down  here," 
Miss  Langham  answered,  with  a  touch  of  im 
patience  in  her  tone.  "  Is  n't  there  some  place 
where  we  can  go  to  get  out  of  this  heat  ?  " 

Weimer,  the  Consul  heard  her  and  led  her 
back  to  Kirkland's  bungalow,  that  hung  like  an 
eagle's  nest  from  a  projecting  cliff.  From  its 
porch  they  could  look  down  the  valley  over  the 
greater  part  of  the  mines,  and  beyond  to  where 
the  Caribbean  Sea  lay  flashing  in  the  heat. 

"  I  saw  very  few  Americans  down  there, 
Weimer,"  said  King.  "  I  thought  Clay  had 
imported  a  lot  of  them." 

"  About  three  hundred  altogether,  wild  Irish 
men  and  negroes,"  said  the  Consul ;  "  but  we 
use  the  native  soldiers  chiefly.  They  can  stand 
the  climate  better,  and,  besides,"  he  added, 
"  they  act  as  a  reserve  in  case  of  trouble.  They 
are  Mendoza's  men,  and  Clay  is  trying  to  win 
them  away  from  him." 

"  I  don't  understand,"  said  King. 

Weimer  looked  around  him  and  waited  until 
Kirkland's  servant  had  deposited  a  tray  full  of 
bottles  and  glasses  on  a  table  near  them,  and 
had  departed.  "The  talk  is,"  he  said,  "  that 


136  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

Alvarez  means  to  proclaim  a  dictatorship  in  his 
own  favor  before  the  spring  elections.  You  've 
heard  of  that,  have  n't  you  ?  "  King  shook  his 
head. 

"  Oh,  tell  us  about  it,"  said  Miss  Langham ;  "  I 
should  so  like  to  be  in  plots  and  conspiracies." 

"  Well,  they  're  rather  common  down  here," 
continued  the  Consul,  "  but  this  one  ought  to 
interest  you  especially,  Miss  Langham,  because 
it  is  a  woman  who  is  at  the  head  of  it.  Madame 
Alvarez,  you  know,  was  the  Couirtcss  Manueleta 
Hernandez  before  her  marriage.  She  belongs 
to  one  of  the  oldest  families  in  Spain.  Alvarez 
married  her  in  Madrid,  when  he  was  Minister 
there,  and  when  he  returned  to  run  for  Presi 
dent,  she  came  with  him.  She 's  a  tremen 
dously  ambitious  woman,  and  they  do  say  she 
wants  to  convert  the  republic  into  a  monarchy, 
and  make  her  husband  King,  or,  more  properly 
speaking,  make  herself  Queen.  Of  course  that 's 
absurd,  but  she  is  supposed  to  be  plotting  to 
turn  Olancho  into  a  sort  of  dependency  of  Spain, 
as  it  was  long  ago,  and  that 's  why  she  is  so 
unpopular." 

"Indeed?"  interrupted  Miss  Langham,  "I 
did  not  know  that  she  was  unpopular." 

"Oh,  rather.  Why,  her  party  is  called  the 
Royalist  Party  already,  and  only  a  week  before 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  137 

you  came  the  Liberals  plastered  the  city  with 
denunciatory  placards  against  her,  calling  on 
the  people  to  drive  her  out  of  the  country." 

"  What  cowards  —  to  fight  a  woman  ! "  ex 
claimed  Miss  Langham. 

"  Well,  she  began  it  first,  you  see,"  said  the 
Consul. 

"  Who  is  the  leader  of  the  fight  against  her  ? " 
asked  King. 

"  General  Mendoza ;  he  is  commander-in- 
chief  and  has  the  greater  part  of  the  army  with 
him,  but  the  other  candidate,  old  General  Rojas, 
is  the  popular  choice  and  the  best  of  the  three. 
He  is  Yice-President  now,  and  if  the  people 
were  ever  given  a  fair  chance  to  vote  for  the 
man  they  want,  he  would  unquestionably  be  the 
next  President  The  mass  of  the  people  are  sick 
of  revolutions.  They  've  had  enough  of  them, 
but  they  will  have  to  go  through  another  before 
long,  and  if  it  turns  against  Dr.  Alvarez,  I  'm 
afraid  Mr.  Langham  will  have  hard  work  to  hold 
these  mines.  You  see,  Mendoza  has  already 
threatened  to  seize  the  whole  plant  and  turn  it 
into  a  Government  monopoly." 

"  And  if  the  other  one,  General  Rojas,  gets 
into  power,  will  he  seize  the  mines,  too  ?  " 

"  No,  he  is  honest,  strange  to  relate,"  laughed 
Weimer,  "  but  he  won't  get  in.  Alvarez  will 


138  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

make  himself  dictator,  or  Mcndoza  will  make 
himself  President.  That 's  why  Clay  treats  the 
soldiers  here  so  well.  He  thinks  he  may  need 
them  against  Meiidoza.  You  may  be  turning 
your  saluting-gun  on  the  city  yet,  Commodore," 
he  added,  smiling,  "  or,  what  is  more  likely, 
you  '11  need  the  yacht  to  take  Miss  Langham  and 
the  rest  of  the  family  out  of  the  country." 

King  smiled  and  Miss  Langham  regarded 
Wei  me  r  with  flattering  interest.  "Pve  got  a 
quick-firing  gun  below  decks,"  said  King,  "  that 
I  used  in  the  Malaysian  Peninsula  on  a  junkful 
of  Black  Flags,  and  I  think  I'll  have  it  brought 
up.  And  there  are  about  thirty  of  my  men  on 
the  yacht  who  would  n't  ask  for  their  wages  in 
a  year  if  I  'd  let  them  go  on  shore  and  mix  up 
in  a  fight.  When  do  you  suppose  this  —  " 

A  heavy  step  and  the  jingle  of  spurs  on  the 
bare  floor  of  the  bungalow  startled  the  conspira 
tors,  and  they  turned  and  gazed  guiltily  out  at 
the  mountain-tops  above  them  as  Clay  came 
hurrying  out  upon  the  porch. 

"  They  told  me  you  were  here,"  he  said, 
speaking  to  Miss  Langham.  "I'm  so  sorry  it 
tired  you.  I  should  have  remembered  —  it  is  a 
rough  trip  when  you  're  not  used  to  it,"  he 
added,  remorsefully.  "  But  I  'm  glad  Weimer 
was  here  to  take  care  of  you." 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  139 

"  It  was  just  a  trifle  hot  and  noisy,"  said  Miss 
Langham,  smiling  sweetly.  She  put  her  hand 
to  her  forehead  with  an  expression  of  patient 
suffering.  "  It  made  my  head  ache  a  little,  but 
it  was  most  interesting."  She  added,  "  You  are 
certainly  to  be  congratulated  on  your  work." 

Clay  glanced  at  her  doubtfully  with  a  troub 
led  look,  and  turned  away  his  eyes  to  the  busy 
scene  below  him.  He  was  greatly  hurt  that  she 
should  have  cared  so  little,  and  indignant  at 
himself  for  being  so  unjust.  Why  should  he 
expect  a  woman  to  find  interest  in  that  hive  of 
noise  and  sweating  energy  ?  But  even  as  he 
stood  arguing  with  himself  his  eyes  fell  on  a 
slight  figure  sitting  erect  and  graceful  on  her 
pony's  back,  her  white  habit  soiled  and  stained 
red  with  the  ore  of  the  mines,  and  green  where 
it  had  crushed  against  the  leaves.  She  was  coin 
ing  slowly  up  the  trail  with  a  body-guard  of  half 
a  dozen  men  crowding  closely  around  her,  telling 
her  the  difficulties  of  the  work,  and  explaining 
their  successes,  and  eager  for  a  share  of  her 
quick  sympathy. 

Clay's  eyes  fixed  themselves  on  the  picture, 
and  he  smiled  at  its  significance.  Miss  Lang- 
ham  noticed  the  look,  and  glanced  below  to  see 
what  it  was  that  had  so  interested  him,  and 
then  back  at  him  again.  He  was  still  watching 


140  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

the  approaching  cavalcade  intently,  and  smiling 
to  himself.  Miss  Langham  drew  in  her  breath 
and  raised  her  head  and  shoulders  quickly,  like 
a  deer  that  hears  a  footstep  in  the  forest,  and 
when  Hope  presently  stepped  out  upon  the  porch, 
she  turned  quickly  toward  her,  and  regarded  her 
steadily,  as  though  she  were  a  stranger  to  her, 
and  as  though  she  were  trying  to  see  her  with  the 
eyes  of  one  who  looked  at  her  for  the  first  time. 

"  Hope ! "  she  said,  "  do  look  at  your  dress ! " 

Hope's  face  was  glowing  with  the  unusual 
exercise,  and  her  eyes  were  brilliant.  Her  hair 
had  slipped  down  beneath  the  visor  of  her 
helmet. 

"  I  am  so  tired  —  and  so  hungry."  She  was 
laughing  and  looking  directly  at  Clay.  "  It  has 
been  a  wonderful  thing  to  have  seen,"  she  said, 
tugging  at  her  heavy  gauntlet,  "  and  to  have 
done,"  she  added.  She  pulled  off  her  glove  and 
held  out  her  hand  to  Clay,  moist  and  scarred 
with  the  pressure  of  the  reins. 

"  Thank  you,"  she  said,  simply. 

The  master  of  the  mines  took  it  with  a  quick 
rush  of  gratitude,  and  looking  into  the  girl's 
eyes,  saw  something  there  that  startled  him,  so 
that  he  glanced  quickly  past  her  at  the  circle  of 
booted  men  grouped  in  the  door  behind  her. 
They  were  each  smiling  in  appreciation  of  the 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  141 

tableaux  ;  her  father  and  Ted,  Mac  Williams  and 
Kirkland,  and  all  the  others  who  had  helped 
him.  They  seemed  to  envy,  but  not  to  grudge, 
the  whole  credit  which  the  girl  had  given  to 
him. 

Clay  thought,  "  Why  could  it  not  have  been 
the  other  ?  But  he  said  aloud,  "  Thank  you. 
You  have  given  me  my  reward." 

Miss  Langham  looked  down  impatiently  into 
the  valley  below,  and  found  that  it  seemed  more 
hot  and  noisy,  and  more  grimy  than  before. 


VI 


CLAY  believed  that  Alice  Langham's  visit  to 
the  mines  had  opened  his  eyes  fully  to  vast  dif 
ferences  between  them.  He  laughed  and  railed 
at  himself  for  having  dared  to  imagine  that  he 
was  in  a  position  to  care  for  her.  Confident  as 
he  was  at  times,  and  sure  as  he  was  of  his 
ability  in  certain  directions,  he  was  uneasy  and 
fearful  when  he  matched  himself  against  a  man 
of  gentle  birth  and  gentle  breeding,  and  one 
who,  like  King,  was  part  of  a  world  of  which  he 
knew  little,  and  to  which,  in  his  ignorance  con 
cerning  it,  he  attributed  many  advantages  that 
it  did  not  possess.  He  believed  that  he  would 
always  lack  the  mysterious  something  which 
these  others  held  by  right  of  inheritance.  He 
was  still  young  and  full  of  the  illusions  of 
youth,  and  so  gave  false  values  to  his  own  qual 
ities,  and  values  equally  false  to  the  qualities  he 
lacked.  For  the  next  week  he  avoided  Miss 
Langham,  unless  there  were  other  people  pres- 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  143 

ent,  and  whenever  she  showed  him  special  favor, 
he  hastily  recalled  to  his  mind  her  failure  to 
sympathize  in  his  work,  and  assured  himself 
that  if  she  could  not  interest  herself  in  the  en 
gineer,  he  did  not  care  to  have  her  interested  in 
the  man.  Other  women  had  found  him  attract 
ive  in  himself ;  they  had  cared  for  his  strength 
of  will  and  mind,  and  because  he  was  good  to 
look  at.  But  he  determined  that  this  one  must 
sympathize  with  his  work  in  the  world,  no  mat 
ter  how  unpicturesque  it  might  seem  to  her. 
His  work  was  the  best  of  him,  he  assured  him 
self,  and  he  would  stand  or  fall  with  it. 

It  was  a  week  after  the  visit  to  the  mines  that 
President  Alvarez  gave  a  great  ball  in  honor  of 
the  Langhams,  to  which  all  of  the  important 
people  of  Olancho,  and  the  Foreign  Ministers 
were  invited.  Miss  Langham  met  Clay  on  the 
afternoon  of  the  day  set  for  the  ball,  as  she  was 
going  down  the  hill  to  join  Hope  and  her  father 
at  dinner  on  the  yacht. 

"  Are  you  not  coming,  too  ? "    she  asked. 

"  I  wish  I  could,"  Clay  answered.  "  King 
asked  me,  but  a  steamer-load  of  new  ma 
chinery  arrived  to-day,  and  I  have  to  see  it 
through  the  Custom-house." 

Miss  Langham  gave  an  impatient  little  laugh, 
and  shook  her  head.  "  You  might  wait  until 


144  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

we  were  gone  before  you  bother  with  your  ma 
chinery,"  she  said. 

"  When  you  are  gone  I  won't  be  in  a  state  of 
mind  to  attend  to  machinery  or  anything  else," 
Clay  answered. 

Miss  Langham  seemed  so  far  encouraged  by 
this  speech  that  she  seated  herself  in  the  boat- 
house  at  the  end  of  the  wharf.  She  pushed  her 
mantilla  back  from  her  face  and  looked  up  at 
him,  smiling  brightly. 

"  '  The  time  has  come,  the  walrus  said/  "  she 
quoted,  "  '  to  talk  of  many  things.'  " 

Clay  laughed  and  dropped  down  beside  her. 
"  Well  ?  "  he  said. 

"  You  have  been  rather  unkind  to  me  this  last 
week,"  the  girl  began,  with  her  eyes  fixed  stead 
ily  on  his.  "  And  that  day  at  the  mines  when 
I  counted  on  you  so,  you  acted  abominably." 

Clay's  face  showed  so  plainly  his  surprise  at 
this  charge,  which  he  thought  he  only  had  the 
right  to  make,  that  Miss  Langham  stopped. 

"  I  don't  understand,"  said  Clay,  quietly. 
"  How  did  I  treat  you  abominably  ?  " 

He  had  taken  her  so  seriously  that  Miss 
Langham  dropped  her  lighter  tone  and  spoke  in 
one  more  kindly : 

"  I  went  out  there  to  see  your  work  at  its 
best.  I  was  only  interested  in  going  because 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  145 

it  was  your  work,  and  because  it  was  you 
who  had  done  it  all,  and  I  expected  that 
you  would  try  to  explain  it  to  me  and  help  me 
to  understand,  but  you  did  n't.  You  treated 
me  as  though  I  had  no  interest  in  the  matter  at 
all,  as  though  I  was  not  capable  of  understand 
ing  it.  You  did  not  seem  to  care  whether  I  was 
interested  or  not.  In  fact,  you  forgot  me  alto 
gether." 

Clay  exhibited  no  evidence  of  a  reproving 
conscience.  "I  am  sorry  you  had  a  stupid 
time,"  he  said,  gravely. 

"  I  did  not  mean  that,  and  you  know  I  did  n't 
mean  that,"  the  girl  answered.  "I  wanted  to 
hear  about  it  from  you,  because  you  did  it.  I 
wasn't  interested  so  much  in  what  had  been 
done,  as  I  was  in  the  man  who  had  accom 
plished  it." 

Clay  shrugged  his  shoulders  impatiently,  and 
looked  across  at  Miss  Larighain  with  a  troubled 
smile. 

"  But  that 's  just  what  I  don't  want,"  he  said. 
"  Can't  you  see  ?  These  mines  and  other  mines 
like  them  are  all  I  have  in  the  world.  They  are 
my  only  excuse  for  having  lived  in  it  so  long. 
I  want  to  feel  that  I  've  done  something  outside 
of  myself,  and  when  you  say  that  you  like  me 
personally,  it 's  as  little  satisfaction  to  me  as  it 
10 


1±6  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

must  be  to  a  woman  to  be  congratulated  on  her 
beauty,  or  on  her  line  voice.  That  is  nothing  she 
has  done  herself.  T  should  like  you  to  value 
what  I  have  done,  not  what  I  happen  to  be." 

Miss  Langliam  turned  her  eyes  to  the  harbor, 
and  it  was  some  short  time  before  she  answered. 

"You  are  a  very  difficult  person  to  please," 
she  said,  "  and  most  exacting.  Asa  rule  men 
are  satisfied  to  be  liked  for  any  reason.  I  con 
fess  frankly,  since  you  insist  upon  it,  that  I  do 
not  rise  to  the  point  of  appreciating  your  work 
as  the  others  do.  I  suppose  it  is  a  fault,"  she 
continued,  with  an  air  that  plainly  said  that  she 
considered  it,  on  the  contrary,  something  of  a 
virtue.  "  And  if  I  knew  more  about  it  techni 
cally,  I  might  see  more  in  it  to  admire.  But  I 
am  looking  farther  on  for  better  things  from 
you.  The  friends  who  help  us  the  most  are  not 
always  those  who  consider  us  perfect,  are 
they  ? "  she  asked,  with  a  kindly  smile.  She 
raised  her  eyes  to  the  great  ore-pier  that 
stretched  out  across  the  water,  the  one  ugly  blot 
in  the  scene  of  natural  beauty  about  them.  "  I 
tb ink  that  is  all  very  well,"  she  said ;  "  but 
I  certainly  expect  you  to  do  more  than  that. 
I  have  met  many  remarkable  men  in  all  parts  of 
the  world,  and  I  know  what  a  strong  man  is, 
and  you  have  one  of  the  strongest  personalities 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  147 

I  have  known.  But  you  can't  mean  that  you 
are  content  to  stop  with  this.  You  should  be 
something  bigger  and  more  wide-reaching  and 
more  lasting.  Indeed,  it  hurts  me  to  see  you 
wasting  your  time  here  over  my  father's  inter 
ests.  You  should  exert  that  same  energy  on  a 
broader  map.  You  could  make  yourself  any 
thing  you  chose.  At  home  you  would  be  your 
party's  leader  in  politics,  or  you  could  be  a 
great  general,  or  a  great  financier.  I  say  this 
because  I  know  there  are  better  things  in  you, 
and  because  I  want  you  to  make  the  most  of 
your  talents.  I  am  anxious  to  see  you  put  your 
powers  to  something  worth  while." 

Miss  Langham's  voice  carried  with  it  such  a 
tone  of  sincerity  that  she  almost  succeeded  in 
deceiving  herself.  And  yet  she  would  have 
hardly  cared  to  explain  just  why  she  had 
reproached  the  man  before  her  after  this  fash 
ion.  For  she  knew  that  when  she  spoke  as  she 
had  done,  she  was  beating  about  to  find  some 
reason  that  would  justify  her  in  not  caring  for 
him,  as  she  knew  she  could  care  —  as  she  would 
not  allow  herself  to  care.  The  man  at  her  side 
had  won  her  interest  from  the  first,  and  later 
had  occupied  her  thoughts  so  entirely,  that  it 
troubled  her  peace  of  mind.  Yet  she  would  not 
let  her  feeling  for  him  wax  and  grow  stronger, 


148  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

but  kept  it  down.  And  she  was  trying  now  to 
persuade  herself  that  she  did  this  because  there 
was  something  lacking  in  him  and  not  in  her. 

She  was  almost  angry  with  him  for  being  so 
much  to  her  and  for  not  being  more  acceptable 
in  little  things,  like  the  other  men  she  knew. 
So  she  found  this  fault  with  him  in  order  that 
she  might  justify  her  own  lack  of  feeling. 

But  Clay,  who  only  heard  the  words  and 
could  not  go  back  of  them  to  find  the  motive, 
could  not  know  this.  He  sat  perfectly  still  when 
she  had  finished  and  looked  steadily  out  across 
the  harbor.  His  eyes  fell  on  the  ugly  ore-pier, 
and  he  winced  and  uttered  a  short  grim  laugh. 

"  That 's  true,  what  you  say,"  he  began,  "  I 
haven't  done  much.  You  are  quite  right. 
Only  —  "  he  looked  up  at  her  curiously  and 
smiled  — "  only  you  should  not  have  been  the 
one  to  tell  me  of  it." 

Miss  Langham  had  been  so  far  carried  away 
by  her  own  point  of  view  that  she  had  not  con 
sidered  Clay,  and  now  that  she  saw  what  mis 
chief  she  had  done,  she  gave  a  quick  gasp  of 
regret,  and  leaned  forward  as  though  to  add 
some  explanation  to  what  she  had  said.  But 
Clay  stopped  her.  "  I  mean  by  that,"  he  said, 
"  that  the  great  part  of  the  inspiration  I  have 
had  to  do  what  little  I  have  done  came  from 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  149 

you.  You  were  a  sort  of  promise  of  something 
better  to  me.  You  were  more  of  a  type  than 
an  individual  woman,  but  your  picture,  the  one 
I  carry  in  my  watch,  meant  all  that  part  of  life 
that  I  have  never  known,  the  sweetness  and  the 
nobleness  and  grace  of  civilization,  —  something 
I  hoped  I  would  some  day  have  time  to  enjoy. 
So  you  see,"  he  added,  with  an  uncertain  laugh, 
"  it 's  less  pleasant  to  hear  that  I  have  failed  to 
make  the  most  of  myself  from  you  than  from 
almost  any  one  else." 

"  But,  Mr.  Clay,"  protested  the  girl,  anxiously, 
"  I  think  you  have  done  wonderfully  well.  I 
only  said  that  I  wanted  you  to  do  more.  You 
are  so  young  and  you  have  - 

Clay  did  not  hear  her.  He  was  leaning  for 
ward  looking  moodily  out  across  the  water,  with 
his  folded  arms  clasped  across  his  knees. 

"  I  have  not  made  the  most  of  myself,"  he 
repeated ;  "  that  is  what  you  said."  He  spoke 
the  words  as  though  she  had  delivered  a  sen 
tence.  "  You  don't  think  well  of  what  I  have 
done,  of  what  I  am." 

He  drew  in  his  breath  and  shook  his  head 
with  a  hopeless  laugh,  and  leaned  back  against 
the  railing  of  the  boat-house  with  the  weariness 
in  his  attitude  of  a  man  who  has  given  up  after 
a  long  struggle. 


150  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

"  No,"  he  said  with  a  bitter  flippancy  in  his 
voice,  "  I  don't  amount  to  much.  But,  my  God ! " 
he  laughed,  and  turning  his  head  away,  "  when 
you  think  what  I  was !  This  does  n't  seem  much 
to  you,  and  it  does  n't  seem  much  to  me  now 
that  I  have  your  point  of  view  on  it,  but  when 
I  remember !  "  Clay  stopped  again  and  pressed 
his  lips  together  and  shook  his  head.  His-  half- 
closed  eyes,  that  seemed  to  be  looking  back  into 
his  past,  lighted  as  they  fell  on  King's  white 
yacht,  and  he  raised  his  arm  and  pointed  to  it 
with  a  wave  of  the  hand.  u  When  I  was  six 
teen  I  was  a  sailor  before  the  mast/'  he  said, 
"  the  sort  of  sailor  that  King's  crew  out  there 
would  n't  recognize  in  the  same  profession.  I 
was  of  so  little  account  that  I  've  been  knocked 
the  length  of  the  main  deck  at  the  end  of  the 
mate's  fist,  and  left  to  lie  bleeding  in  the  scup 
pers  for  dead.  I  had  n't  a  thing  to  my  name 
then  but  the  clothes  I  wore,  and  I  've  had  to  go 
aloft  in  a  hurricane  and  cling  to  a  swinging 
rope  with  my  bare  toes  and  pull  at  a  wet  sheet 
until  my  finger-nails  broke  and  started  in  their 
sockets ;  and  I  've  been  a  cow-boy,  with  no 
companions  for  six  months  of  the  year  but  ei(o;ht 
thousand  head  of  cattle  and  men  as  dumb  and 
untamed  as  the  steers  themselves.  I  've  sat  in 
my  saddle  night  after  night,  with  nothing  over- 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  151 

head  but  the  stars,  and  no  sound  but  the  noise  of 
the  steers  breathing  in  their  sleep.  The  women 
I  knew  were  Indian  squaws,  and  the  girls  of 
the  sailor's  dance-houses  and  the  gambling-hells 
of  Sioux  City  and  Abilene,  and  Callao  and  Port 
Sa'id.  That  was  what  I  was  and  those  were  my 
companions.  Why!"  he  laughed,  rising  and 
striding  across  the  boat-house  with  his  hands 
locked  behind  him,  "I've  fought  on  the  mud 
floor  of  a  Mexican  shack,  with  a  naked  knife  in 
my  hand,  for  my  last  dollar.  I  was  as  low  and 
as  desperate  as  that.  And  now — "  Clay  lifted 
his  head  and  smiled.  "Now,"  he  said,  in  a 
lower  voice  and  addressing  Miss  Langham  with 
a  return  of  his  usual  grave  politeness,  "  I  am 
able  to  sit  beside  you  and  talk  to  you.  I  have 
risen  to  that.  I  am  quite  content." 

He  paused  and  looked  at  Miss  Langham  un 
certainly  for  a  few  moments  as  though  in  doubt 
as  to  whether  she  would  understand  him  if  he 
continued. 

"And  though  it  means  nothing  to  you,"  he 
said,  "  and  though  as  you  say  I  am  here  as  your 
father's  employee,  there  are  other  places,  per 
haps,  where  I  am  better  known.  In  Edinburgh 
or  Berlin  or  Paris,  if  you  were  to  ask  the  people 
of  my  own  profession,  they  could  tell  you  some 
thing  of  me.  If  I  wished  it,  I  could  drop  this 


152  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

active  work  to-morrow  and  continue  as  an  ad 
viser,  as  an  expert,  but  I  like  the  active  part 
better.  I  like  doing  things  myself.  I  don't  say, 
4 1  am  a  salaried  servant  of  Mr.  Langham's;'  I 
put  it  differently.  I  say, 4  There  are  five  moun 
tains  of  iron.  You  are  to  take  them  up  and 
transport  them  from  South  America  to  North 
America,  where  they  will  be  turned  into  rail 
roads  and  ironclads.'  That 's  my  way  of  look 
ing  at  it.  It's  better  to  bind  a  laurel  to  the 
plough  than  to  call  yourself  hard  names.  It 
makes  your  work  easier — almost  noble.  Can 
not  you  see  it  that  way,  too  ?  " 

Before  Miss  Langham  could  answer,  a  depre 
catory  cough  from  one  side  of  the  open  boat- 
house  startled  them,  and  turning  they  saw 
Mac  Williams  coming  toward  them.  They  had 
been  so  intent  upon  what  Clay  was  saying  that 
he  had  approached  them  over  the  soft  sand 
of  the  beach  without  their  knowing  it.  Miss 
Langham  welcomed  his  arrival  with  evident 
pleasure. 

"The  launch  is  waiting  for  you  at  the  end  of 
the  pier,"  MacWilliams  said.  Miss  Langham 
rose  and  the  three  walked  together  down  the 
length  of  the  wharf,  MacWilliams  moving  briskly 
in  advance  in  order  to  enable  them  to  continue 
the  conversation  he  had  interrupted,  but  they 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  153 

followed  close  behind  him,  as  though  neither  of 
them  were  desirous  of  such  an  opportunity. 

Hope  and  King  had  both  come  for  Miss  Lang- 
ham,  and  while  the  latter  was  helping  her  to  a 
place  on  the  cushions,  and  repeating  his  regrets 
that  the  men  were  not  coming  also,  Hope  started 
the  launch,  with  a  brisk  ringing  of  bells  and  a 
whirl  of  the  wheel  and  a  smile  over  her  shoulder 
at  the  figures  on  the  wharf. 

"  Why  did  n't  you  go  ? "  said  Clay  ;  "  you  have 
no  business  at  the  Custom-house." 

"  Neither  have  you,"  said  Mac  Williams.  "  But 
I  guess  we  both  understand.  There 's  no  good 
pushing  your  luck  too  far." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  that  —  this  time  ?  " 

"  Why,  what  have  we  to  do  with  all  of  this  ?  " 
cried  Mac  Williams.  "  It 's  what  I  keep  telling 
you  every  day.  We  're  not  in  that  class,  and 
you're  only  making  it  harder  for  yourself  when 
they  've  gone.  I  call  it  cruelty  to  animals  my 
self,  having  women  like  that  around.  Up  North, 
where  everybody  's  white,  you  don't  notice  it  so 
much,  but  down  here  —  Lord  !  " 

"That's  absurd,"  Clay  answered.  "Why 
should  you  turn  your  back  on  civilization  when 
it  comes  to  you,  just  because  you  're  not  going 
back  to  civilization  by  the  next  steamer  ?  Every 
person  you  meet  either  helps  you  or  hurts  you. 


154  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

Those  girls  help  us,  even  if  they  do  make  the 
life  here  seem  bare  and  mean.'' 

"Bare  and  mean!"  repeated  Mae  Williams  in 
credulously.  "  I  think  that 's  just  what  they 
don't  do.  I  like  it  all  the  better  because  they  're 
mixed  up  in  it.  I  never  took  so  much  interest 
in  your  mines  until  she  took  to  riding  over  them, 
and  I  did  n't  think  great  shakes  of  my  old  ore- 
road,  either,  but  now  that  she 's  got  to  acting 
as  engineer,  it 's  sort  of  nickel-plated  the  whole 
outfit.  I  'm  going  to  name  the  new  engine  after 
her  —  when  it  gets  here  —  if  her  old  man  will 
let  me." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  Miss  Langham  has  n't 
been  to  the  mines  but  once,  has  she  ?" 

"  Miss  Langham  !  "  exclaimed  Mac  Williams. 
"  No,  I  mean  the  other,  Miss  Hope.  She  comes 
out  with  Ted  nearly  every  day  now,  and  she  's 
learning  how  to  run  a  locomotive.  Just  for 
fun,  you  know,"  he  added,  reassuringly. 

"  I  did  n't  suppose  she  had  any  intention  of 
joining  the  Brotherhood,"  said  Clay.  "  So  she 's 
been  out  every  day,  has  she?  I  like  that,"  he 
commented,  enthusiastically.  "  She 's  a  fine, 
sweet  girl." 

"  Fine,  sweet  girl ! "  growled  Mac  Williams. 
"  I  should  hope  so.  She 's  the  best.  They  don't 
make  them  any  better  than  that,  and  just  think, 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  155 

if  she 's  like  that  now,  what  will  she  be  when 
she 's  grown  up,  when  she 's  learned  a  few 
things?  Now  her  sister.  You  can  see  just 
what  her  sister  will  be  at  thirty,  and  at  fifty, 
and  at  eighty.  She 's  thoroughbred  and  she 's 
the  most  beautiful  woman  to  look  at  I  ever  saw 
—  but,  my  son  —  she  is  too  careful.  She  has  n't 
any  illusions,  and  no  sense  of  humor.  And  a 
woman  with  no  illusions  and  no  sense  of  humor 
is  going  to  be  monotonous.  You  can't  teach 
her  anything.  You  can't  imagine  yourself  tell 
ing  her  anything  she  does  n't  know.  The  things 
we  think  important  don't  reach  her  at  all. 
They  're  not  in  her  line,  and  in  everything  else 
she  knows  more  than  we  could  ever  guess  at. 
But  that  Miss  Hope !  It 's  a  privilege  to  show 
her  about.  She  wants  to  see  everything,  and 
learn  everything,  and  she  goes  poking  her  head 
into  openings  and  down  shafts  like  a  little  fox 
terrier.  And  she  '11  sit  still  and  listen  with  her 
eyes  wide  open  and  tears  in  them,  too,  and  she 
does  n't  know  it  —  until  you  can't  talk  yourself 
for  just  looking  at  her." 

Clay  rose  and  moved  on  to  the  house  in 
silence.  He  was  glad  that  MacWilliams  had 
interrupted  him  when  he  did.  He  wondered 
whether  he  understood  Alice  Langham  after  all. 
He  had  seen  many  fine  ladies  before  during  his 


156  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

brief  visits  to  London,  and  Berlin,  and  Vienna, 
and  they  had  shown  him  favor.  He  had  known 
other  women  not  so  fine.  Spanish-American 
senoritas  through  Central  and  South  America, 
the  wives  and  daughters  of  English  merchants 
exiled  along  the  Pacific  coast,  whose  fair  skin 
and  yellow  hair  whitened  and  bleached  under 
the  hot  tropical  suns.  He  had  known  many 
women,  and  he  could  have  quoted 

"  Trials  and  troubles  amany, 

Have  proved  me ; 

One  or  two  women,  God  bless  them  1 
Have  loved  me." 

But  the  woman  he  was  to  marry  must  have 
all  the  things  he  lacked.  She  must  fill  out 
and  complete  him  where  he  was  wanting. 
This  woman  possessed  all  of  these  things.  She 
appealed  to  every  ambition  and  to  every  taste 
he  cherished,  and  yet  he  knew  that  he  had  hes 
itated  and  mistrusted  her,  when  he  should  have 
declared  himself  eagerly  and  vehemently,  and 
forced  her  to  listen  with  all  the  strength  of  his 
will. 

Miss  Langham  dropped  among  the  soft  cush 
ions  of  the  launch  with  a  sense  of  having  been 
rescued  from  herself  and  of  delight  in  finding 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  157 

refuge  again  in  her  own  environment.  The 
sight  of  King  standing  in  the  bow  beside  Hope 
with  his  cigarette  hanging  from  his  lips,  and 
peering  with  half-closed  eyes  into  the  fading 
light,  gave  her  a  sense  of  restfulness  and  con 
tent.  She  did  not  know  what  she  wished  from 
that  other  strange  young  man.  He  was  so  bold, 
so  handsome,  and  he  looked  at  life  and  spoke  of 
it  in  such  a  fresh,  unhackneyed  spirit.  He 
might  make  himself  anything  he  pleased.  But 
here  was  a  man  who  already  had  everything,  or 
who  could  get  it  as  easily  as  he  could  increase 
the  speed  of  the  launch,  by  pulling  some  wire 
with  his  finger. 

She  recalled  one  day  when  they  were  all 
on  board  of  this  same  launch,  and  the  ma 
chinery  had  broken  down,  and  Mac  Williams  had 
gone  forward  to  look  at  it.  He  had  called  Clay 
to  help  him,  and  she  remembered  how  they  had 
both  gone  down  on  their  knees  and  asked  the 
engineer  and  fireman  to  pass  them  wrenches 
and  oil-cans,  while  King  protested  mildly,  and 
the  rest  sat  helplessly  in  the  hot  glare  of  the 
sea,  as  the  boat  rose  and  fell  on  the  waves. 
She  resented  Clay's  interest  in  the  accident, 
and  his  pleasure  when  he  had  made  the  ma 
chinery  right  once  more,  and  his  appearance  as 
he  came  back  to  them  with  oilv  hands  and  with 


158  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

his  face  glowing  from  the  heat  of  the  furnace, 
wiping  his  grimy  fingers  on  a  piece  of  packing. 
She  had  resented  the  equality  with  which  he 
treated  the  engineer  in  asking  his  advice,  and  it 
rather  surprised  her  that  the  crew  saluted  him 
when  he  stepped  into  the  launch  again  that 
night  as  though  he  were  the  owner.  She  had 
expected  that  they  would  patronize  him,  and  she 
imagined  after  this  incident  that  she  detected  a 
shade  of  difference  in  the  manner  of  the  sailors 
toward  Clay,  as  though  he  had  cheapened  him 
self  to  them  —  as  he  had  to  her. 


VII 

AT  ten  o'  clock  that  same  evening  Clay  began 
to  prepare  himself  for  the  ball  at  the  Gov 
ernment  Palace,  and  MacWilliams,  who  was 
not  invited,  watched  him  dress  with  critical 
approval  that  showed  no  sign  of  envy. 

The  better  to  do  honor  to  the  President,  Clay 
had  brought  out  several  foreign  orders,  and 
MacWilliams  helped  him  to  tie  around  his  neck 
the  collar  of  the  Red  Eagle  which  the  German 
Emperor  had  given  him,  and  to  fasten  the  rib 
bon  and  cross  of  the  Star  of  Olancho  across  his 
breast,  and  a  Spanish  Order  and  the  Legion  of 
Honor  to  the  lapel  of  his  coat.  MacWilliams 
surveyed  the  effect  of  the  tiny  enamelled  crosses 
with  his  head  on  one  side,  and  with  the  same  air 
of  affectionate  pride  and  concern  that  a  mother 
shows  over  her  daughter's  first  ball-dress. 

"Got  any  more?"  he  asked,  anxiously. 

"  I  have  some  war  medals,"  Clay  answered, 
smiling  doubtfully.  "  But  I  'm  not  in  uniform." 


160  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

"  Oh,  that 's  all  right,"  declared  Mac  Williams. 
"  Put  'em  on,  put  'em  all  on.  Give  the  girls  a 
treat.  Everybody  will  think  they  were  given 
for  feats  of  swimming,  anyway;  but  they  will 
show  up  well  from  the  front.  Now,  then, 
you  look  like  a  drum-major  or  a  conjuring 
chap." 

"  I  do  not,"  said  Clay.  "  I  look  like  a  French 
Ambassador,  and  I  hardly  understand  how  you 
find  courage  to  speak  to  me  at  all." 

He  went  up  the  hill  in  high  spirits,  and  found 
the  carriage  at  the  door  and  King,  Mr.  Lang 
ham,  and  Miss  Langham  sitting  waiting  foi 
him.  They  were  ready  to  depart,  and  Misu 
Langham  had  but  just  seated  herself  in  the 
carriage  when  they  heard  hurrying  across  the 
tiled  floor  a  quick,  light  step  and  the  rustle  of 
silk,  and  turning  they  saw  Hope  standing  in  the 
doorway,  radiant  and  smiling.  She  wore  a 
white  frock  that  reached  to  the  ground,  and 
that  left  her  arms  and  shoulders  bare.  Her 
hair  was  dressed  high  upon  her  head,  and  she 
was  pulling  vigorously  at  a  pair  of  long,  tan- 
colored  gloves.  The  transformation  was  so 
complete,  and  the  girl  looked  so  much  older  and 
so  stately  and  beautiful,  that  the  two  young 
men  stared  at  her  in  silent  admiration  and  as 
tonishment. 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  161 

"  Why,  Hope ! "  exclaimed  her  sister.  "  What 
does  this  mean  ? " 

Hope  stopped  in  some  alarm,  and  clasped  her 
hair  with  both  hands.  "What  is  it?"  she 
asked ;  u  Is  anything  wrong  ?  " 

"Why,  my  dear  child,"  said  her  sister, 
"you're  not  thinking  of  going  with  us,  are 
you?" 

"  Not  going  ? "  echoed  the  younger  sister, 
in  dismay.  "  Why,  Alice,  why  not  ?  I  was 
asked." 

"  But,  Hope  —  Father,"  said  the  elder  sis 
ter,  stepping  out  of  the  carnage  and  turning  to 
Mr.  Langham,  "you  didn't  intend  that  Hope 
should  go,  did  you  ?  She 's  not  out  yet." 

"  Oh,  nonsense,"  said  Hope,  defiantly.  But 
she  drew  in  her  breath  quickly  and  blushed,  as 
she  saw  the  two  young  men  moving  away  out  of 
hearing  of  this  family  crisis.  She  felt  that  she 
was  being  made  to  look  like  a  spoiled  child. 
"  It  does  n't  count  down  here,"  she  said,  "  and  I 
want  to  go.  I  thought  you  knew  I  was  going 
all  the  time.  Marie  made  this  frock  for  me  on 
purpose." 

"  I  don't  think  Hope  is  old  enough,"  the  elder 
sister  said,  addressing  her  father,  "  and  if  she 
goes  to  dances  here,  there 's  no  reason  why  she 
should  not  go  to  those  at  home." 
11 


162  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

"  But  I  don't  want  to  go  to  dances  at  home," 
interrupted  Hope. 

Mr.  Langham  looked  exceedingly  uncomfort 
able,  and  turned  appealingly  to  his  elder 
daughter.  "What  do  you  think,  Alice?"  he 
said,  doubtfully. 

"  I  'm  sorry,"  Miss  Langham  replied,  "  but  I 
know  it  would  not  be  at  all  proper.  I  hate  to 
seem  horrid  about  it,  Hope,  but  indeed  you  are 
too  young,  and  the  men  here  are  not  the  men  a 
young  girl  ought  to  meet." 

"You  meet  them,  Alice,"  said  Hope,  but 
pulling  off  her  gloves  in  token  of  defeat. 

"  But,  my  dear  child,  I  'm  fifty  years  older 
than  you  are." 

"  Perhaps  Alice  knows  best,  Hope,"  Mr.  Lang- 
ham  said.  *  I'm  sorry  if  you  are  disappointed." 

Hope  held  her  head  a  little  higher,  and  turned 
toward  the  door. 

"I  don't  mind  if  you  don't  wish  it,  father," 
she  said.  "  Good-night."  She  moved  away,  but 
apparently  thought  better  of  it,  and  came  back 
and  stood  smiling  and  nodding  to  them  as  they 
seated  themselves  in  the  carriage.  Mr.  Langham 
leaned  forward  and  said,  in  a  troubled  voice, 
"We  will  tell  you  all  about  it  in  the  morning. 
I  'm  very  sorry.  You  won't  be  lonely,  will  you  ? 
I  '11  stay  with  you  if  you  wish." 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  163 

"  Nonsense ! "  laughed  Hope.  u  Why,  it  's 
given  to  you,  father;  don't  bother  about  me. 
I  '11  read  something  or  other  and  go  to  bed." 

"  Good-night,  Cinderella,"  King  called  out  to 
her. 

"  Good-night,  Prince  Charming,"  Hope  an 
swered. 

Both  Clay  and  King  felt  that  the  girl  would 
not  mind  missing  the  ball  so  much  as  she  would 
the  fact  of  having  been  treated  like  a  child  in 
their  presence,  so  they  refrained  from  any  ex 
pression  of  sympathy  or  regret,  but  raised  their 
hats  and  bowed  a  little  more  impressively  than 
usual  as  the  carriage  drove  away. 

The  picture  Hope  made,  as  she  stood  deserted 
and  forlorn  on  the  steps  of  the  empty  house  in 
her  new  finery,  struck  Clay  as  unnecessarily 
pathetic.  He  felt  a  strong  sense  of  resentment 
against  her  sister  and  her  father,  and  thanked 
heaven  devoutly  that  he  was  out  of  their  class, 
and  when  Miss  Langham  continued  to  express 
her  sorrow  that  she  had  been  forced  to  act  as 
she  had  done,  he  remained  silent.  It  seemed  to 
Clay  such  a  simple  thing  to  give  children  pleas 
ure,  and  to  remember  that  their  woes  were 
always  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  cause.  Chil 
dren,  dumb  animals,  and  blind  people  were 
always  grouped  together  in  his  mind  as  objects 


164  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

demanding  the  most  tender  and  constant  con 
sideration.  So  the  pleasure  of  the  evening  was 
spoiled  for  him  while  he  remembered  the  hurt 
and  disappointed  look  in  Hope's  face,  and  when 
Miss  Langham  asked  him  why  he  was  so  pre 
occupied,  he  told  her  bluntly  that  he  thought 
she  had  been  very  unkind  to  Hope,  and  that  her 
objections  were  absurd. 

Miss  Langham  held  herself  a  little  more 
stiffly.  "  Perhaps  you  do  not  quite  understand, 
Mr.  Clay,"  she  said.  "  Some  of  us  have  to  con 
form  to  certain  rules  that  the  people  with  whom 
we  best  like  to  associate  have  laid  down  for 
themselves.  If  we  choose  to  be  conventional, 
it  is  probably  because  we  find  it  makes  life 
easier  for  the  greater  number.  You  cannot 
think  it  was  a  pleasant  task  for  me.  But  I  have 
given  up  things  of  much  more  importance  than 
a  dance  for  the  sake  of  appearances,  and  Hope 
herself  will  see  to-morrow  that  I  acted  for  the 
best." 

Clay  said  he  trusted  so,  but  doubted  it,  and 
by  way  of  re-establishing  himself  in  Miss  Lang- 
ham's  good  favor,  asked  her  if  she  could  give 
him  the  next  dance.  But  Miss  Langham  was 
not  to  be  propitiated. 

"I'm  sorry,"  she  said,  "but  I  believe  I  am 
engaged  until  supper-time.  Come  and  ask  me 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  165 

then,  and  I'll  have  one  saved  for  you.  But 
there  is  something  you  can  do,"  she  added.  u  I 
left  my  fan  in  the  carriage  —  do  you  think  you 
could  manage  to  get  it  for  me  without  much 
trouble?" 

"  The  carriage  did  not  wait.  I  believe  it  was 
sent  back,"  said  Clay,  "  but  I  can  borrow  a 
horse  from  one  of  Stuart's  men,  and  ride  back 
and  get  it  for  you,  if  you  like." 

"  How  absurd ! "  laughed  Miss  Langham,  but 
she  looked  pleased,  notwithstanding. 

"  Oh,  not  at  all,"  Clay  answered.  He  was 
smiling  down  at  her  in  some  amusement,  and 
was  apparently  much  entertained  at  his  idea. 
"  Will  you  consider  it  an  act  of  devotion  ? "  he 
asked. 

There  was  so  little  of  devotion,  and  so  much 
more  of  mischief  in  his  eyes,  that  Miss  Langham 
guessed  he  was  only  laughing  at  her,  and  shook 
her  head. 

"  You  won 't  go,"  she  said,  turning  away. 
She  followed  him  with  her  eyes,  however,  as 
he  crossed  the  room,  his  head  and  shoulders 
towering  above  the  native  men  and  women. 
She  had  never  seen  him  so  resplendent,  and  she 
noted,  with  an  eye  that  considered  trifles,  the 
orders,  and  his  well-fitting  white  gloves,  and  his 
manner  of  bowing  in  the  Continental  fashion, 


166  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

holding  his  opera-hat  on  his  thigh,  as  though  his 
hand  rested  on  a  sword.  She  noticed  that  the 
little  Olanchoans  stopped  and  looked  after  him, 
as  he  pushed  his  way  among  them,  and  she 
could  see  that  the  men  were  telling  the  women 
who  he  was.  Sir  Julian  Pindar,  the  old  British 
Minister,  stopped  him,  and  she  watched  them 
as  they  laughed  together  over  the  English  war 
medals  on  the  American's  breast,  which  Sir 
Julian  touched  with  his  finger.  He  called  the 
French  Minister  and  his  pretty  wife  to  look,  too, 
and  they  all  laughed  and  talked  together  in 
great  spirits,  and  Miss  Langham  wondered  if 
Clay  was  speaking  in  French  to  them. 

Miss  Langham  did  not  enjoy  the  ball ;  she  felt 
injured  and  aggrieved,  and  she  assured  herself 
that  she  had  been  hardly  used.  She  had  only 
done  her  duty,  and  yet  all  the  sympathy  had  gone 
to  her  sister,  who  had  placed  her  in  a  trying 
position.  She  thought  it  was  most  inconsiderate. 

Hope  walked  slowly  across  the  veranda  when 
the  others  had  gone,  and  watched  the  carriage 
as  long  as  it  remained  in  sight.  Then  she 
threw  herself  into  a  big  arm-chair,  and  looked 
down  upon  her  pretty  frock  and  her  new  danc 
ing-slippers.  She,  too,  felt  badly  used. 

The  moonlight  fell  all  about  her,  as  it  had  on 
the  first  night  of  their  arrival,  a  month  before, 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  167 

but  now  it  seemed  cold  and  cheerless,  and  gave 
an  added  sense  of  loneliness  to  the  silent  house. 
She  did  not  go  inside  to  read,  as  she  had  prom 
ised  to  do,  but  sat  for  the  next  hour  looking  out 
across  the  harbor.  She  could  not  blame  Alice. 
She  considered  that  Alice  always  moved  by 
rules  and  precedents,  like  a  queen  in  a  game  of 
chess,  and  she  wondered  why.  It  made  life  so 
tame  and  uninteresting,  and  yet  people  invari 
ably  admired  Alice,  and  some  one  had  spoken 
of  her  as  the  noblest  example  of  the  modern 
gentlewoman.  She  was  sure  she  could  not  grow 
up  to  bo  anything  like  that.  She  was  quite 
confident  that  she  was  going  to  disappoint  her 
family.  She  wondered  if  people  would  like  her 
better  if  she  were  discreet  like  Alice,  and  less 
like  her  brother  Ted.  If  Mr.  Clay,  for  instance, 
would  like  her  better?  She  wondered  if  he 
disapproved  of  her  riding  on  the  engine  with 
Mac  Williams,  and  of  her  tearing  through  the 
mines  on  her  pony,  and  spearing  with  a  lance 
of  sugar-cane  at  the  mongrel  curs  that  ran  to 
snap  at  his  flanks.  She  remembered  his  look 
of  astonished  amusement  the  day  he  had  caught 
her  in  this  impromptu  pig-sticking,  and  she  felt 
herself  growing  red  at  the  recollection.  She 
was  sure  he  thought  her  a  tomboy.  Probably 
he  never  thought  of  her  at  all. 


168  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

Hope  leaned  back  in  the  chair  and  looked  up 
at  the  stars  above  the  mountains  and  tried  to 
think  of  any  of  her  heroes  and  princes  in  fiction 
who  had  gone  through  such  interesting  experi 
ences  as  had  Mr.  Clay.  Some  of  them  had  done 
so,  but  they  were  creatures  in  a  book  and  this 
hero  was  alive,  and  she  knew  him,  and  had  prob 
ably  made  him  despise  her  as  a  silly  little  girl 
who  was  scolded  and  sent  off  to  bed  like  a  dis 
obedient  child.  Hope  felt  a  choking  in  her  throat 
and  something  like  a  tear  creep  to  her  eyes : 
but  she  was  surprised  to  find  that  the  fact  did 
not  make  her  ashamed  of  herself.  She  owned 
that  she  was  wounded  and  disappointed,  and  to 
make  it  harder  she  could  not  help  picturing 
Alice  and  Clay  laughing  and  talking  together 
in  some  corner  away  from  the  ball-room,  while 
she,  who  understood  him  so  well,  and  who  could 
not  find  the  words  to  tell  him  how  much  she 
valued  what  he  was  and  what  he  had  done,  was 
forgotten  and  sitting  here  alone,  like  Cinderella, 
by  the  empty  fireplace. 

The  picture  was  so  pathetic  as  Hope  drew  it, 
that  for  a  moment  she  felt  almost  a  touch  of 
self-pity,  but  the  next  she  laughed  scornfully  at 
her  own  foolishness,  and  rising  with  an  impa 
tient  shrug,  walked  away  in  the  direction  of  her 
room. 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  169 

But  before  she  had  crossed  the  veranda  she  was 
stopped  by  the  sound  of  a  horse's  hoofs  gallop 
ing  over  the  hard  sun-baked  road  that  led  from 
the  city,  and  before  she  had  stepped  forward 
out  of  the  shadow  in  which  she  stood  the  horse 
had  reached  the  steps  and  his  rider  had  pulled 
him  back  on  his  haunches  and  swung  himself 
off  before  the  forefeet  had  touched  the  ground. 

Hope  had  guessed  that  it  was  Clay  by  his 
riding,  and  she  feared  from  his  haste  that  some 
one  of  her  people  were  ill.  So  she  ran  anxiously 
forward  and  asked  if  anything  were  wrong. 

Clay  started  at  her  sudden  appearance,  and 
gave  a  short  boyish  laugh  of  pleasure. 

"  I  'm  so  glad  you  're  still  up,"  he  said.  "  No, 
nothing  is  wrong."  He  stopped  in  some  embar 
rassment.  He  had  been  moved  to  return  by  the 
fact  that  the  little  girl  he  knew  was  in  trouble, 
and  now  that  he  was  suddenly  confronted  by 
this  older  and  statelier  young  person,  his  action 
seemed  particularly  silly,  and  he  was  at  a  loss 
to  explain  it  in  any  way  that  would  not  give 
offence. 

"No,  nothing  is  wrong,"  he  repeated.  "I 
came  after  something." 

Clay  had  borrowed  one  of  the  cloaks  the 
troopers  wore  at  night  from  the  same  man  who 
had  lent  him  the  horse,  and  as  he  stood  bare- 


170  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

headed  before  her,  with  the  cloak  hanging  from 
his  shoulders  to  the  floor  and  the  star  and  rib 
bon  across  his  breast,  Hope  felt  very  grateful 
to  him  for  being  able  to  look  like  a  Prince  or  a 
hero  in  a  book,  and  to  yet  remain  her  Mr.  Clay 
at  the  same  time. 

"  I  came  to  get  your  sister's  fan,"  Clay  ex 
plained.  "  She  forgot  it." 

The  young  girl  looked  at  him  for  a  moment  in 
surprise  and  then  straightened  herself  slightly. 
She  did  not  know  whether  she  was  the  more 
indignant  with  Alice  for  sending  such  a  man  on 
so  foolish  an  errand,  or  with  Clay  for  submit 
ting  to  such  a  service. 

"  Oh,  is  that  it  ? "  she  said  at  last.  "  I  will  go 
and  find  you  one."  She  gave  him  a  dignified 
little  bow  and  moved  away  toward  the  door, 
with  every  appearance  of  disapproval. 

"Oh,  I  don't  know,"  she  heard  Clay  say, 
doubtfully ;  "  I  don't  have  to  go  just  yet,  do  I  ? 
May  I  not  stay  here  a  little  while  ? " 

Hope  stood  and  looked  at  him  in  some 
perplexity. 

"  Why,  yes,"  she  answered,  wonderingly. 
"  But  don't  you  want  to  go  back  ?  You  came 
in  a  great  hurry.  And  won't  Alice  want  her 
fan?" 

"  Oh,  she  has  it  by  this  time.     I  told  Stuart 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  171 

to  find  it.  She  left  it  in  the  carriage,  and  the 
carriage  is  waiting  at  the  end  of  the  plaza." 

"Then  why  did  you  come?"  asked  Hope, 
with  rising  suspicion. 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know,"  said  Clay,  helplessly.  " I 
thought  I  'd  just  like  a  ride  in  the  moonlight. 
I  hate  balls  and  dances  anyway,  don't  you  ?  I 
think  you  were  very  wise  not  to  go." 

Hope  placed  her  hands  on  the  back  of  the 
big  arm-chair  and  looked  steadily  at  him  as  he 
stood  where  she  could  see  his  face  in  the  moon 
light.  "You  came  back,"  she  said,  "because 
they  thought  I  was  crying,  and  they  sent  you  to 
see.  Is  that  it  ?  Did  Alice  send  you  ? "  she 
demanded. 

Clay  gave  a  gasp  of  consternation. 

"You  know  that  no  one  sent  me,"  he  said. 
"  I  thought  they  treated  you  abominably,  and  I 
wanted  to  come  and  say  so.  That 's  all.  And 
I  wanted  to  tell  you  that  I  missed  you  very 
much,  and  that  your  not  coming  had  spoiled 
the  evening  for  me,  and  I  came  also  because 
I  preferred  to  talk  to  you  than  to  stay  where  I 
was.  No  one  knows  that  I  came  to  see  you.  I 
said  I  was  going  to  get  the  fan,  and  I  told  Stuart 
to  find  it  after  I  'd  left.  I  just  wanted  to  see  you, 
that 's  all.  But  I  will  go  back  again  at  once." 

While  he  had  been  speaking  Hope  had  low- 


172  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

ered  her  eyes  from  his  face  and  had  turned  and 
looked  out  across  the  harbor.  There  was  a 
strange,  happy  tumult  in  her  breast,  and  she 
was  breathing  so  rapidly  that  she  was  afraid 
he  would  notice  it.  She  also  felt  an  absurd  in 
clination  to  cry,  and  that  frightened  her.  So 
she  laughed  and  turned  and  looked  up  into  his 
face  again.  Clay  saw  the  same  look  in  her  eyes 
that  he  had  seen  there  the  day  when  she  had 
congratulated  him  on  his  work  at  the  mines. 
He  had  seen  it  before  in  the  eyes  of  other  wo 
men  and  it  troubled  him.  Hope  seated  herself 
in  the  big  chair,  and  Clay  tossed  his  cloak  on 
the  floor  at  her  feet  and  sat  down  with  his 
shoulders  against  one  of  the  pillars.  He  glanced 
up  at  her  and  found  that  the  look  that  had 
troubled  him  was  gone,  and  that  her  eyes  were 
now  smiling  with  excitement  and  pleasure. 

"  And  did  you  bring  me  something  from  the 
ball  in  your  pocket  to  comfort  me,"  she  asked, 
mockingly. 

"Yes,  I  did,"  Clay  answered,  unabashed.  "I 
brought  you  some  bonbons." 

"  You  did  n't,  really !  "  Hope  cried,  with  a 
shriek  of  delight.  "  How  absurd  of  you !  The 
sort  you  pull  ? " 

"The  sort  you  pull,"  Clay  repeated,  gravely. 
"  And  also  a  dance-card,  which  is  a  relic  of  bar- 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  173 

barism  still  existing  in  this  Southern  capital. 
It  has  the  arms  of  Olancho  on  it  in  gold,  and  I 
thought  you  might  like  to  keep  it  as  a  souvenir." 
He  pulled  the  card  from  his  coat-pocket  and 
said,  "  May  I  have  this  dance  ? " 

"  You  may,"  Hope  answered.  "  But  you 
would  n't  mind  if  we  sat  it  out,  would  you  ? " 

"  I  should  prefer  it,"  Clay  said,  as  he  scrawled 
his  name  across  the  card.  "  It  is  so  crowded 
inside,  and  the  company  is  rather  mixed." 
They  both  laughed  lightly  at  their  own  foolish 
ness,  and  Hope  smiled  down  upon  him  affec 
tionately  and  proudly.  "  You  may  smoke,  if 
you  choose ;  and  would  you  like  something  cool 
to  drink?"  she  asked,  anxiously.  "After  your 
ride,  you  know,"  she  suggested,  with  hospitable 
intent.  Clay  said  that  he  was  very  comfortable 
without  a  drink,  but  lighted  a  cigar  and  watched 
her  covertly  through  the  smoke,  as  she  sat  smil 
ing  happily  and  quite  unconsciously  upon  the 
moonlit  world  around  them.  She  caught  Clay's 
eye  fixed  on  her,  and  laughed  lightly. 

"  What  is  it  ? "  he  said. 

"  Oh,  I  was  just  thinking,"  Hope  replied, "  that 
it  was  much  better  to  have  a  dance  come  to  you, 
than  to  go  to  the  dance. " 

"  Does  one  man  and  a  dance-card  and  three 
bon-bons  constitute  your  idea  of  a  ball  ? " 


174  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

"Doesn't  it?  You  see,  I  am  uot  out  yet,  I 
don't  know." 

"  I  should  think  it  might  depend  a  good  deal 
upon  the  man,"  Clay  suggested. 

"That  sounds  as  though  you  were  hinting," 
said  Hope,  doubtfully,  "  Now  what  would  I  say 
to  that  if  I  were  out  ? " 

"I  don't  know,  but  don't  say  it,"  Clay  an 
swered.  "  It  would  probably  be  something  very 
unflattering  or  very  forward,  and  in  either  case 
I  should  take  you  back  to  your  chaperone  and 
leave  you  there." 

Hope  had  not  been  listening.  Her  eyes  were 
fixed  on  a  level  with  his  tie,  and  Clay  raised  his 
hand  to  it  in  some  trepidation.  "  Mr.  Clay," 
she  began  abruptly  and  leaning  eagerly  forward, 
"  would  you  think  me  very  rude  if  I  asked  you 
what  you  did  to  get  all  those  crosses  ?  I  know 
they  mean  something,  and  I  do  so  want  to  know 
what.  Please  tell  me." 

"  Oh,  those !  "  said  Clay.  "  The  reason  I  put 
them  on  to-night  is  because  wearing  them  is 
supposed  to  be  a  sort  of  compliment  to  your 
host.  I  got  in  the  habit  abroad  —  " 

"  I  did  n't  ask  you  that,"  said  Hope,  severely. 
"  I  asked  you  what  you  did  to  get  them.  Now 
begin  with  the  Legion  of  Honor  on  the  left,  and 
go  right  on  until  you  come  to  the  end,  and  please 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  175 

don't  skip  anything.  Leave  in  all  the  blood 
thirsty  parts,  and  please  don't  be  modest." 

"  Like  Othello,"  suggested  Clay. 

"  Yes,"  said  Hope ;  "  I  will  be  Desdemona." 

"  Well,  Desdemona,  it  was  like  this,"  said 
Clay,  laughing.  "  I  got  that  medal  and  that  star 
for  serving  in  the  Nile  campaign,  under  Wolse- 
ley.  After  I  left  Egypt,  I  went  up  the  coast  to 
Algiers,  where  I  took  service  under  the  French 
in  a  most  disreputable  organization  known  as 
the  Foreign  Legion  —  " 

"  Don't  tell  me,"  exclaimed  Hope,  in  delight, 
u  that  you  have  been  a  Chasseur  d'Afrique ! 
Not  like  the  man  in  <  Under  Two  Flags '  ? " 

"No,  not  at  all  like  that  man,"  said  Clay, 
emphatically.  "  I  was  just  a  plain,  common,  or 
garden,  sappeur,  and  I  showed  the  other  good- 
for-nothings  how  to  dig  trenches.  Well,  I  con 
taminated  the  Foreign  Legion  for  eight  months, 
and  then  I  went  to  Peru,  where  I  —  " 

"You're  skipping,"  said  Hope.  "How  did 
you  get  the  Legion  of  Honor  ? " 

"  Oh,  that  ?  "  said  Clay.  "  That  was  a  gallery 
play  I  made  once  when  we  were  chasing  some 
Arabs.  They  took  the  French  flag  away  from 
our  color-bearer,  and  I  got  it  back  again  and 
waved  it  frantically  around  my  head  until  I  was 
quite  certain  the  Colonel  had  seen  me  doing  it, 


176  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

and  then  I  stopped  as  soon  as  I  knew  that  I  was 
sure  of  promotion." 

"  Oh,  how  can  you  ? "  cried  Hope.  "  You 
did  n't  do  anything  of  the  sort.  You  probably 
saved  the  entire  regiment." 

"  Well,  perhaps  I  did,"  Clay  returned.  "  Though 
I  don't  remember  it,  and  nobody  mentioned  it 
at  the  time." 

"  Go  on  about  the  others,"  said  Hope.  "  And 
do  try  to  be  truthful." 

"  Well,  I  got  this  one  from  Spain,  because  I 
was  President  of  an  International  Congress  of 
Engineers  at  Madrid.  That  was  the  ostensible 
reason,  but  the  real  reason  was  because  I  taught 
the  Spanish  Commissioners  to  play  poker  in 
stead  of  baccarat.  The  German  Emperor  gave 
me  this  for  designing  a  fort,  and  the  Sultan  of 
Zanzibar  gave  me  this,  and  no  one  but  the  Sultan 
knows  why,  and  he  won't  tell.  I  suppose  he 's 
ashamed.  He  gives  them  away  instead  of 
cigars.  He  was  out  of  cigars  the  day  I  called." 

"  What  a  lot  of  places  you  have  seen,"  sighed 
Hope.  "  I  have  been  in  Cairo  and  Algiers,  too, 
but  I  always  had  to  walk  about  with  a  gover 
ness,  and  she  would  n't  go  to  the  mosques  be 
cause  she  said  they  were  full  of  fleas.  We 
always  go  to  Homburg  and  Paris  in  the  sum 
mer,  and  to  big  hotels  in  London.  I  love  to 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  177 

travel,  but  I  don't  love  to  travel  that  way, 
would  you?" 

"  I  travel  because  I  have  no  home,"  said  Cky. 
"  I  'm  different  from  the  chap  that  came  home 
because  all  the  other  places  were  shut.  I  go  to 
other  places  because  there  is  no  home  open." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ? "  said  Hope,  shaking 
her  head.  "  Why  have  you  no  home  ? " 

"  There  was  a  ranch  in  Colorado  that  I  used 
to  call  home,"  said  Clay,  "  but  they  've  cut  it 
up  into  town  lots.  I  own  a  plot  in  the  cemetery 
outside  of  the  town,  where  my  mother  is  buried, 
and  I  visit  that  whenever  I  am  in  the  States, 
and  that  is  the  only  piece  of  earth  anywhere  in 
the  world  that  I  have  to  go  back  to." 

Hope  leaned  forward  with  her  hands  clasped 
in  front  of  her  and  her  eyes  wide  open. 

"  And  your  father  ? "  she  said,  softly ;  u  is  he 
—  is  he  there,  too  —  " 

Clay  looked  at  the  lighted  end  of  his  cigar  as 
he  turned  it  between  his  fingers. 

"  My  father,  Miss  Hope,"  he  said,  "  was  a  fili 
buster,  and  went  out  on  the  '  Virginius '  to  help 
free  Cuba,  and  was  shot,  against  a  stone  wall. 
We  never  knew  where  he  was  buried." 

"  Oh,  forgive  me ;  I  beg  your  pardon,"  said 
Hope.  There  was  such  distress  in  her  voice 
that  Clay  looked  at  her  quickly  and  saw  the 
12 


178  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

tears  in  her  eyes.  She  reached  out  her  hand 
timidly,  and  touched  for  an  instant  his  own 
rough,  sunburned  fist,  as  it  lay  clenched  on  his 
knee.  "  I  am  so  sorry,"  she  said,  "  so  sorry." 
For  the  first  time  in  many  years  the  tears  came 
to  Clay's  eyes  and  blurred  the  moonlight  and 
the  scene  before  him,  and  he  sat  unmanned  and 
silent  before  the  simple  touch  of  a  young  girl's 
sympathy. 

An  hour  later,  when  his  pony  struck  the 
gravel  from  beneath  his  hoofs  on  the  race  back 
to  the  city,  and  Clay  turned  to  wave  his  hand 
to  Hope  in  the  doorway,  she  seemed,  as  she 
stood  with  the  moonlight  falling  about  her 
white  figure,  like  a  spirit  beckoning  the  way  to 
a  new  paradise. 


VIII 

CLAY  reached  the  President's  Palace  during 
the  supper-hour,  and  found  Mr.  Langham  and 
his  daughter  at  the  President's  table.  Madame 
Alvarez  pointed  to  a  place  for  him  beside  Alice 
Langham,  who  held  up  her  hand  in  welcome. 
"  You  were  very  foolish  to  rush  off  like  that/' 
she  said. 

"  It  was  n't  there,"  said  Clay,  crowding  into 
the  place  beside  her. 

"  No,  it  was  here  in  the  carriage  all  the  time. 
Captain  Stuart  found  it  for  me." 

"Oh,  he  did,  did  he?"  said  Clay;  "that's 
why  I  could  n't  find  it.  I  am  hungry,"  he 
laughed,  "  my  ride  gave  me  an  appetite."  He 
looked  over  and  grinned  at  Stuart,  but  that  gen 
tleman  was  staring  fixedly  at  the  candles  on  the 
table  before  him,  his  eyes  filled  with  concern. 
Clay  observed  that  Madame  Alvarez  was  cov 
ertly  watching  the  young  officer,  and  frowning 
her  disapproval  at  his  preoccupation.  So  he 
stretched  his  leg  under  the  table  and  kicked 


180  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

viciously  at  Stuart's  boots.  Old  General  Rojas, 
the  Vice-President,  who  sat  next  to  Stuart, 
moved  suddenly  and  then  blinked  violently  at 
the  ceiling  with  an  expression  of  patient  suffer 
ing,  but  the  exclamation  which  had  escaped  him 
brought  Stuart  back  to  the  present,  and  he 
talked  with  the  woman  next  him  in  a  perfunctory 
manner. 

Miss  Langham  and  her  father  were  waiting 
for  their  carriage  in  the  great  hall  of  the  Palace 
as  Stuart  came  up  to  Clay,  and  putting  his  hand 
affectionately  on  his  shoulder,  began  pointing  to 
something  farther  back  in  the  hall.  To  the 
night-birds  of  the  streets  and  the  noisy  fiacre 
drivers  outside,  and  to  the  crowd  of  guests  who 
stood  on  the  high  marble  steps  waiting  for  their 
turn  to  depart,  he  might  have  been  relating  an 
amusing  anecdote  of  the  ball  just  over." 

"  I  'm  in  great  trouble,  old  man,"  was  what  he 
said.  u  I  must  see  you  alone  to-night.  I  'd  ask 
you  to  my  rooms,  but  they  watch  me  all  the 
time,  and  I  don't  want  them  to  suspect  you  are 
in  this  until  they  must.  Go  on  in  the  carriage, 
but  get  out  as  you  pass  the  Plaza  Bolivar  and 
wait  for  me  by  the  statue  there." 

Clay  smiled,  apparently  in  great  amusement. 
"  That's  very  good,"  he  said. 

He  crossed  over  to  where  King  stood  survey- 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  181 

ing  the  powdered  beauties  of  Olancho  and  their 
gowns  of  a  past  fashion,  with  an  intensity  of 
admiration  which  would  have  been  suspicious  to 
those  who  knew  his  tastes.  "  When  we  get 
into  the  carriage,"  said  Clay,  in  a  low  voice, 
"we  will  both  call  to  Stuart  that  we  will  see 
him  to-morrow  morning  at  breakfast." 

"  All  right,"  assented  King.  "  What 's  up  ?  " 
Stuart  helped  Miss  Langham  into  her  car 
riage,  and  as  it  moved  away  King  shouted  to 
him  in  English  to  remember  that  he  was  break 
fasting  with  him  on  the  morrow,  and  Clay  called 
out  in  Spanish,  "  Until  to-morrow  at  breakfast, 
don't  forget."  And  Stuart  answered,  steadily, 
"  Good-night  until  to-morrow  at  one." 

As  their  carriage  jolted  through  the  dark  and 
narrow  street,  empty  now  of  all  noise  or  move 
ment,  one  of  Stuart's  troopers  dashed  by  it  at  a 
gallop,  with  a  lighted  lantern  swinging  at  his 
side.  He  raised  it  as  he  passed  each  street 
crossing,  and  held  it  high  above  his  head  so  that 
its  light  fell  upon  the  walls  of  the  houses  at  the 
four  corners.  The  clatter  of  his  horse's  hoofs 
had  not  ceased  before  another  trooper  galloped 
toward  them  riding  more  slowly,  and  throwing 
the  light  of  his  lantern  over  the  trunks  of  the 
trees  that  lined  the  pavements.  As  the  carriage 
passed  him,  he  brought  his  horse  to  its  side  with 


182  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

a  jerk  of  the  bridle,  and  swung  his  lantern  in 
the  faces  of  its  occupants. 

"  Who  lives  ? "  he  challenged. 

"  Olancho,"  Clay  replied. 

4<  Who  answers  ?  " 

"Free  men,"  Clay  answered  again,  and 
pointed  at  the  star  on  his  coat. 

The  soldier  muttered  an  apology,  and  striking 
his  heels  into  his  horse's  side,  dashed  noisily 
away,  his  lantern  tossing  from  side  to  side,  high 
in  the  air,  as  he  drew  rein  to  scan  each  tree  and 
passed  from  one  lamp-post  to  the  next. 

"  What  does  that  mean  ? "  said  Mr.  Lang- 
ham  ;  "  did  he  take  us  for  highwaymen?" 

"  It  is  the  custom,"  said  Clay.  "  We  are  out 
rather  late,  you  see." 

"  If  I  remember  rightly,  Clay,"  said  King, 
"  they  gave  a  ball  at  Brussels  on  the  eve  of 
Waterloo." 

"  I  believe  they  did,"  said  Clay,  smiling.  He 
spoke  to  the  driver  to  stop  the  carriage,  and 
stepped  down  into  the  street. 

"  I  have  to  leave  you  here,"  he  said ;  "  drive 
on  quickly,  please  ;  I  can  explain  better  in  the 
morning." 

The  Plaza  Bolivar  stood  in  what  had  once 
been  the  centre  of  the  fashionable  life  of  Olan 
cho,  but  the  town  had  moved  farther  up  the  hill, 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  183 

and  it  was  now  far  in  the  suburbs,  its  walks 
neglected  and  its  turf  overrun  with  weeds.  The 
houses  about  it  had  fallen  into  disuse,  and  the 
few  that  were  still  occupied  at  the  time  Clay  en 
tered  it  showed  no  sign  of  life.  Clay  picked  his 
way  over  the  grass-grown  paths  to  the  statue  of 
Bolivar,  the  hero  of  the  sister  republic  of  Ven 
ezuela,  which  still  stood  on  its  pedestal  in  a 
tangle  of  underbrush  and  hanging  vines.  The 
iron  railing  that  had  once  surrounded  it  was 
broken  down,  and  the  branches  of  the  trees  near 
were  black  with  sleeping  buzzards.  Two  great 
palms  reared  themselves  in  the  moonlight  at 
either  side,  and  beat  their  leaves  together  in  the 
night  wind,  whispering  and  murmuring  together 
like  two  living  conspirators. 

"  This  ought  to  be  safe  enough,"  Clay  mur 
mured  to  himself.  u  It 's  just  the  place  for  plot 
ting.  I  hope  there  are  no  snakes."  He  seated 
himself  on  the  steps  of  the  pedestal,  and  light 
ing  a  cigar,  remained  smoking  and  peering  into 
the  shadows  about  him,  until  a  shadow  blacker 
than  the  darkness  rose  at  his  feet,  and  a  voice 
said,  sternly,  "  Put  out  that  light.  I  saw  it  half 
a  mile  away." 

Clay  rose  and  crushed  his  cigar  under  his 
foot.  "Now  then,  old  man,"  he  demanded 
briskly,  "what's  up?  It's  nearly  daylight  and 
we  must  hurry." 


184  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

Stuart  seated  himself  heavily  on  the  stone 
steps,  like  a  man  tired  in  mind  and  body,  and 
unfolded  a  printed  piece  of  paper.  Its  blank 
side  was  damp  and  sticky  with  paste. 

"  It  is  too  dark  for  you  to  see  this,"  he  began, 
in  a  strained  voice,  "  so  I  will  translate  it  to 
you.  It  is  an  attack  on  Madame  Alvarez  and 
myself.  They  put  them  up  during  the  ball, 
when  they  knew  my  men  would  be  at  the  Pal 
ace.  I  have  had  them  scouring  the  streets  for 
the  last  two  hours  tearing  them  down,  but  they 
are  all  over  the  place,  in  the  cafe's  and  clubs. 
They  have  done  what  they  were  meant  to  do." 

Clay  took  another  cigar  from  his  pocket  and 
rolled  it  between  his  lips.  "  What  does  it 
say?"  he  asked. 

"  It  goes  over  the  old  ground  first.  It  says 
Alvarez  has  given  the  richest  birthright  of  his 
country  to  aliens  —  that  means  the  mines  and 
Langham  —  and  has  put  an  alien  in  command 
of  the  army — that  is  meant  for  me.  I've  no 
more  to  do  with  the  army  than  you  have  —  I 
only  wish  I  had!  And  then  it  says  that  the 
boundary  aggressions  of  Ecuador  and  Venezuela 
have  not  been  resented  in  consequence.  It  asks 
what  can  be  expected  of  a  President  who  is  as 
blind  to  the  dishonor  of  his  country  as  he  is  to 
the  dishonor  of  his  own  home  ?  " 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  185 

Clay  muttered  under  his  breath,  "Well,  go 
on.  Is  it  explicit  ?  More  explicit  than  that  ? " 

"  Yes,"  said  Stuart,  grimly.  "  I  can't  repeat 
it.  It  is  quite  clear  what  they  mean." 

"Have  you  got  any  of  them?"  Clay  asked. 
"  Can  you  fix  it  on  some  one  that  you  can 
fight  ?  " 

"  Mendoza  did  it,  of  course,"  Stuart  an 
swered,  "  but  we  cannot  prove  it.  And  if  we 
could,  we  are  not  strong  enough  to  take  him. 
He  has  the  city  full  of  his  men  now,  and  the 
troops  are  pouring  in  every  hour." 

"  Well,  Alvarez  can  stop  that,  can't  he  ?" 

"They  are  coming  in  for  the  annual  review. 
He  can't  show  the  people  that  he  is  afraid  of 
his  own  army." 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  ? " 

"  What  am  I  going  to  do  ? "  Stuart  repeated, 
dully.  "  That  is  what  I  want  you  to  tell  me. 
There  is  nothing  I  can  do  now.  I  've  brought 
trouble  and  insult  on  people  who  have  been 
kinder  to  me  than  my  own  blood  have  been. 
Who  took  me  in  when  I  was  naked  and  clothed 
me,  when  I  had  n't  a  friend  or  a  sixpence  to  my 
name.  You  remember  —  I  came  here  from  that 
row  in  Columbia  with  my  wound,  and  I  was 
down  with  the  fever  when  they  found  me,  and 
Alvarez  gave  me  the  appointment.  And  this  is 


186  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

how  I  reward  them.  If  I  stay  I  do  more  harm. 
If  I  go  away  I  leave  them  surrounded  by  ene 
mies,  and  not  enemies  who  fight  fair,  but 
damned  thieves  and  scoundrels,  who  stab  at 
women  and  who  fight  in  the  dark.  I  wouldn't 
have  had  it  happen,  old  man,  for  my  right  arm ! 
They  —  they  have  been  so  kind  to  me,  and  I 
have  been  so  happy  here  —  and  now ! "  The 
boy  bowed  his  face  in  his  hands  and  sat  breath 
ing  brokenly  while  Clay  turned  his  unlit  cigar 
between  his  teeth  and  peered  at  him  curiously 
through  the  darkness.  "  Now  I  have  made 
them  both  unhappy,  and  they  hate  me,  and  I 
hate  myself,  and  I  have  brought  nothing  but 
trouble  to  every  one.  First  I  made  my  own 
people  miserable,  and  now  I  make  my  best 
friends  miserable,  and  I  had  better  be  dead. 
I  wish  I  were  dead.  I  wish  I  had  never  been 
born." 

Clay  laid  his  hand  on  the  other's  bowed 
shoulder  and  shook  him  gently.  "  Don't  talk 
like  that,"  he  said  ;  "  it  does  no  good.  Why  do 
you  hate  yourself  ? " 

"  What  ? "  asked  Stuart,  wearily,  without 
looking  up.  "What  did  you  say?" 

"  You  said  you  had  made  them  hate  you,  and 
you  added  that  you  hated  yourself.  Well,  I 
can  see  why  they  naturally  would  be  angry  for 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  187 

the  time,  at  least.  But  why  do  you  hate  your- 
self  ?  Have  you  reason  to  ? " 

"  I  don't  understand,"  said  Stuart. 

"Well,  I  can't  make  it  any  plainer,"  Clay 
replied.  "  It  is  n't  a  question  I  will  ask.  But 
you  say  you  want  my  advice.  Well,  my  advice 
to  my  friend  and  to  a  man  who  is  not  my  friend, 
differ.  And  in  this  case  it  depends  on  whether 
what  that  thing  —  "  Clay  kicked  the  paper  which 
had  fallen  on  the  ground  —  "  what  that  thing 
says  is  true." 

The  younger  man  looked  at  the  paper  below 
him  and  then  back  at  Clay,  and  sprang  to  his 
feet. 

"  Why,  damn  you,"  he  cried,  "  what  do  you 
mean  ? " 

He  stood  above  Clay  with  both  arms  rigid  at 
his  side  and  his  head  bent  forward.  The  dawn 
had  just  broken,  and  the  two  men  saw  each 
other  in  the  ghastly  gray  light  of  the  morning. 
"  If  any  man,"  cried  Stuart  thickly,  "  dares  to 
say  that  that  blackguardly  lie  is  true  I  '11  kill 
him.  You  or  any  one  else.  Is  that  what  you 
mean,  damn  you  ?  If  it  is,  say  so,  and  I  '11 
break  every  bone  of  your  body." 

"Well,  that's  much  better,"  growled  Clay, 
sullenly.  "  The  way  you  went  on  wishing  you 
were  dead  and  hating  yourself  made  me  almost 


188  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

lose  faith  in  mankind.  Now  you  go  make  that 
speech  to  the  President,  and  then  find  the  man 
who  put  up  those  placards,  and  if  you  can't  find 
the  right  man,  take  any  man  you  meet  and  make 
him  eat  it,  paste  and  all,  and  beat  him  to  death 
if  he  does  n't.  Why,  this  is  no  time  to  whimper 
—  because  the  world  is  full  of  liars.  Go  out 
and  fight  them  and  show  them  you  are  not 
afraid.  Confound  you,  you  had  me  so  scared 
there  that  I  almost  thrashed  you  myself.  For 
give  me,  won't  you  ?  "  he  begged  earnestly.  He 
rose  and  held  out  his  hand  and  the  other  took 
it,  doubtfully.  "  It  was  your  own  fault,  you 
young  idiot,"  protested  Clay.  "  You  told  your 
story  the  wrong  way.  Now  go  home  and  get 
some  sleep  and  I'll  be  back  in  a  few  hours  to 
help  you.  Look  !  "  he  said.  He  pointed  through 
the  trees  to  the  sun  that  shot  up  like  a  red  hot 
disk  of  heat  above  the  cool  green  of  the  moun 
tains.  "  See,"  said  Clay,  "  God  has  given  us  an^ 
other  day.  Seven  battles  were  fought  in  seven 
days  once  in  my  country.  Let 's  be  thankful, 
old  man,  that  we  're  not  dead,  but  alive  to  fight 
our  own  and  other  people's  battles." 

The  younger  man  sighed  and  pressed  Clay's 
hand  again  before  he  dropped  it. 

"You  are  very  good  to  me,"  he  said.  "  I'm 
not  just  quite  myself  this  morning.  I  'm  a  bit 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  189 

nervous,  I  think.  You'll  surely  come,  won't 
you?" 

"By  noon,"  Clay  promised.  "And  if  it  does 
come,"  he  added,  "  don't  forget  my  fifteen  hun 
dred  men  at  the  mines." 

"  Good !  I  won't,"  Stuart  replied.  "  I  '11  call 
on  you  if  I  need  them."  He  raised  his  fingers 
mechanically  to  his  helmet  in  salute,  and  catch 
ing  up  his  sword  turned  and  strode  away  erect 
and  soldierly  through  the  de'bris  and  weeds  of 
the  deserted  plaza. 

Clay  remained  motionless  on  the  steps  of  the 
pedestal  and  followed  the  younger  man  with  his 
eyes.  He  drew  a  long  breath  and  began  a  leis 
urely  search  through  his  pockets  for  his  match 
box,  gazing  about  him  as  he  did  so,  as  though 
looking  for  some  one  to  whom  he  could  speak 
his  feelings.  He  lifted  his  eyes  to  the  stern, 
smooth-shaven  face  of  the  bronze  statue  above 
him  that  seemed  to  be  watching  Stuart's  de 
parting  figure. 

44  General  Bolivar,"  Clay  said,  as  he  lit  his 
cigar,  "  observe  that  young  man.  He  is  a  sol 
dier  and  a  gallant  gentleman.  You,  sir,  were 
a  great  soldier  —  the  greatest  this  God-forsaken 
country  will  ever  know  —  and  you  were,  sir,  an 
ardent  lover.  I  ask  you  to  salute  that  young 
man  as  I  do,  and  to  wish  him  well."  Clay  lifted 


190  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

his  high  hat  to  the  back  of  the  young  officer  as 
it  was  hidden  in  the  hanging  vines,  and  once 
again,  with  grave  respect  to  the  grim  features 
of  the  great  general  above  him,  and  then  smil 
ing  at  his  own  conceit,  he  ran  lightly  down  the 
steps  and  disappeared  among  the  trees  of  the 
plaza. 


IX 


CLAY  slept  for  three  hours.  He  had  left  a 
note  on  the  floor  instructing  MacWilliams  and 
young  Langham  not  to  go  to  the  mines,  but  to 
waken  him  at  ten  o'clock,  and  by  eleven  the 
three  men  were  galloping  off  to  the  city.  As 
they  left  the  Palms  they  met  Hope  returning 
from  a  morning  ride  on  the  Alemeda,  and  Clay 
begged  her,  with  much  concern,  not  to  ride 
abroad  again.  There  was  a  difference  in  his 
tone  toward  her.  There  was  more  anxiety  in 
it  than  the  occasion  seemed  to  justify,  and  he 
put  his  request  in  the  form  of  a  favor  to  him 
self,  while  the  day  previous  he  would  simply 
have  told  her  that  she  must  not  go  riding 
alone. 

"Why?"  asked  Hope,  eagerly.  "Is  there 
going  to  be  trouble  ?  " 

"I  hope  not,"  Clay  said,  "but  the  soldiers 
are  coming  in  from  the  provinces  for  the 
review,  and  the  roads  are  not  safe." 


192  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

"I'd  be  safe  with  you,  though,"  said  Hope, 
smiling  persuasively  upon  the  three  men. 
"Won't  you  take  me  with  you,  please?" 

"  Hope, "  said  young  Langham  in  the  tone  of 
the  elder  brother's  brief  authority,  "you  must 
go  home  at  once. " 

Hope  smiled  wickedly.  "I  don't  want  to," 
she  said. 

"  I  '11  bet  you  a  box  of  cigars  I  can  beat  you  to 
the  veranda  by  fifty  yards,"  said  MacWilliams, 
turning  his  horse's  head. 

Hope  clasped  her  sailor  hat  in  one  hand  and 
swung  her  whip  with  the  other.  "  I  think  not," 
she  cried,  and  disappeared  with  a  flutter  of 
skirts  and  a  scurry  of  flying  pebbles. 

"At times,"  said  Clay,  "MacWilliams  shows 
an  unexpected  knowledge  of  human  nature." 

"Yes,  he  did  quite  right,"  assented  Lang- 
ham,  nodding  his  head  mysteriously.  "  We  've 
no  time  for  girls  at  present,  have  we  ?  " 

"No,  indeed,"  said  Clay,  hiding  any  sign  of 
a  smile. 

Langham  breathed  deeply  at  the  thought  of 
the  part  he  was  to  play  in  this  coming  struggle, 
and  remained  respectfully  silent  as  they  trotted 
toward  the  city.  He  did  not  wish  to  disturb 
the  plots  and  counterplots  that  he  was  confident 
were  forming  in  Clay's  brain,  and  his  devotion 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  193 

would  have  been  severely  tried  had  he  known 
that  his  hero's  mind  was  filled  with  a  picture 
of  a  young  girl  in  a  blue  shirt-waist  and  a 
whipcord  riding-skirt. 

Clay  sent  for  Stuart  to  join  them  at  the 
restaurant,  and  MacWilliame  arriving  at  the 
same  time,  the  four  men  seated  themselves 
conspicuously  in  the  centre  of  the  cafe  and 
sipped  their  chocolate  as  though  unconscious  of 
any  imminent  danger,  and  in  apparent  freedom 
from  all  responsibilities  and  care.  While 
MacWilliams  and  Langham  laughed  and  dis 
puted  over  a  game  of  dominoes,  the  older  men 
exchanged,  under  cover  of  their  chatter,  the 
few  words  which  they  had  met  to  speak. 

The  manifestoes,  Stuart  said,  had  failed  of 
their  purpose.  He  had  already  called  upon  the 
President,  and  had  offered  to  resign  his  posi 
tion  and  leave  the  country,  or  to  stay  and  fight 
his  maligners,  and  take  up  arms  at  once  against 
Mendoza's  party.  Alvarez  had  treated  him 
like  a  son,  and  bade  him  be  patient.  He  held 
that  Cassar's  wife  was  above  suspicion  because 
she  was  Caesar's  wife,  and  that  no  canards  posted 
at  midnight  could  affect  his  faith  in  his  wife  or 
in  his  friend.  He  refused  to  believe  that  any 
coup  d'etat  was  imminent,  save  the  one  which 
he  himself  meditated  when  he  was  ready  to 
13 


194  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

proclaim  the  country  in  a  state  of  revolution, 
and  to  assume  a  military  dictatorship. 

"  What  nonsense ! "  exclaimed  Clay.  "  What 
is  a  military  dictatorship  without  soldiers  ? 
Can't  he  see  that  the  army  is  with  Mendoza  ?  " 

"No,"  Stuart  replied.  "Rojas  and  I  were 
with  him  all  the  morning.  Rojas  is  an  old 
trump,  Clay.  He  's  not  bright  and  he  's  old- 
fashioned;  but  he  is  honest.  And  the  people 
know  it.  If  I  had  Rojas  for  a  chief  instead  of 
Alvarez,  I  'd  arrest  Mendoza  with  my  own 
hand,  and  I  wouldn't  be  afraid  to  take  him  to 
the  cartel  through  the  streets.  The  people 
would  n't  help  him.  But  the  President  does  n't 
dare.  Not  that  he  hasn't  pluck,"  added  the 
young  lieutenant,  loyally,  "for  he  takes  his 
life  in  his  hands  when  he  goes  to  the  review 
to-morrow,  and  he  knows  it.  Think  of  it,  will 
you,  out  there  alone  with  a  field  of  five  thou 
sand  men  around  him!  Rojas  thinks  he  can 
hold  half  of  them,  as  many  as  Mendoza  can, 
and  1  have  my  fifty.  But  you  can't  tell  what 
any  one  of  them  will  do  for  a  drink  or  a  dollar. 
They  're  no  more  soldiers  than  these  waiters. 
They  're  bandits  in  uniform,  and  they  '11  kill 
for  the  man  that  pays  best." 

"  Then  why  does  n't  Alvarez  pay  them  ?  "  Clay 
growled. 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  195 

Stuart  looked  away  and  lowered  his  eyes  to 
the  table.  "He  has  n't  the  money,  I  suppose," 
he  said,  evasively.  "  He  —  he  has  transferred 
every  cent  of  it  into  drafts  on  Rothschild. 
They  are  at  the  house  now,  representing  five 
millions  of  dollars  in  gold  —  and  her  jewels, 
too  —  packed  ready  for  flight." 

"  Then  he  does  expect  trouble  ?  "  said  Clay. 
"  You  told  me  —  " 

"They're  all  alike;  you  know  them,"  said 
Stuart.  "  They  won't  believe  they  're  in  danger 
until  the  explosion  comes,  but  they  always 
have  a  special  train  ready,  and  they  keep  the 
funds  of  the  government  under  their  pillows. 
He  engaged  apartments  on  the  Avenue  Kleber 
six  months  ago. " 

"Bah!"  said  Clay.  "It's  the  old  story. 
Why  don't  you  quit  him  ?  " 

Stuart  raised  his  eyes  and  dropped  them 
again,  and  Clay  sighed.  "I  'm  sorry,"  he  said. 

MacWilliams  interrupted  them  in  an  indig 
nant  stage-whisper.  "  Say,  how  long  have  we 
got  to  keep  up  this  fake  game  ? "  he  asked.  "  I 
don't  know  anything  about  dominoes,  and 
neither  does  Ted.  Tell  us  what  you  've  been 
saying.  Is  there  going  to  be  trouble  ?  If  there 
is,  Ted  and  I  want  to  be  in  it.  We  are  look 
ing  for  trouble." 


196  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

Clay  had  tipped  back  his  chair,  and  was  sur 
veying  the  restaurant  and  the  blazing  plaza 
beyond  its  open  front  with  an  expression  of 
cheerful  unconcern.  Two  men  were  reading 
the  morning  papers  near  the  door,  and  two 
others  were  dragging  through  a  game  of  domi 
noes  in  a  far  corner.  The  heat  of  midday  had 
settled  on  the  place,  and  the  waiters  dozed, 
with  their  chairs  tipped  back  against  the  walls. 
Outside,  the  awning  of  the  restaurant  threw  a 
broad  shadow  across  the  marble-topped  tables 
on  the  sidewalk,  and  half  a  dozen  fiacre  drivers 
slept  peacefully  in  their  carriage  before  the 
door. 

The  town  was  taking  its  siesta,  and  the  brisk 
step  of  a  stranger  who  crossed  the  tessellated 
floor  and  rapped  with  his  knuckles  on  the  top 
of  the  cigar-case  was  the  only  sign  of  life. 
The  new-comer  turned  with  one  hand  on  the 
glass  case  and  swept  the  room  carelessly  with 
his  eyes.  They  were  hard  blue  eyes  under 
straight  eyebrows.  Their  owner  was  dressed 
unobtrusively  in  a  suit  of  rough  tweed,  and 
this  and  his  black  hat,  and  the  fact  that  he 
was  smooth-shaven,  distinguished  him  as  a 
foreigner. 

As  he  faced  them  the  forelegs  of  Clay's  chair 
descended  slowly  to  the  floor,  and  he  began  to 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  197 

smile  comprehendingly  and  to  nod  his  head  as 
though  the  coming  of  the  stranger  had  explained 
something  of  which  he  had  been  in  doubt.  His 
companions  turned  and  followed  the  direction 
of  his  eyes,  but  saw  nothing  of  interest  in  the 
new-comer.  He  looked  as  though  he  might  be 
a  concession  hunter  from  the  States,  or  a 
Manchester  drummer,  prepared  to  offer  six 
months'  credit  on  blankets  and  hardware. 

Clay  rose  and  strode  across  the  room,  cir 
cling  the  tables  in  such  a  way  that  he  could 
keep  himself  between  the  stranger  and  the 
door.  At  his  approach  the  new-comer  turned 
his  back  and  fumbled  with  his  change  on  the 
counter. 

"  Captain  Burke,  I  believe  ?  "  said  Clay.  The 
stranger  bit  the  cigar  he  had  just  purchased, 
and  shook  his  head.  "I  am  very  glad  to  see 
you,"  Clay  continued.  "Sit  down,  won't  you  ? 
I  want  to  talk  with  you. " 

"  I  think  you  've  made  a  mistake, "  the  stranger 
answered,  quietly.  "My  name  is  —  " 

"Colonel,  perhaps,  then,"  said  Clay.  "I 
might  have  known  it.  I  congratulate  you, 
Colonel." 

The  man  looked  at  Clay  for  an  instant,  with 
the  cigar  clenched  between  his  teeth  and  his 
blue  eyes  fixed  steadily  on  the  other's  face. 


198  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

Clay  waved  his  hand  again  invitingly  toward 
a  table,  and  the  man  shrugged  his  shoulders 
and  laughed,  and,  pulling  a  chair  toward  him, 
sat  down. 

"Come  over  here,  hoys,"  Clay  called.  "I 
want  you  to  meet  an  old  friend  of  mine,  Cap 
tain  Burke." 

The  man  called  Burke  stared  at  the  three 
men  as  they  crossed  the  room  and  seated  them 
selves  at  the  table,  and  nodded  to  them  in 
silence. 

"We  have  here,"  said  Clay,  gayly,  but  in  a 
low  voice,  "the  key  to  the  situation.  This  is 
the  gentleman  who  supplies  Mendoza  with  the 
sinews  of  war.  Captain  Burke  is  a  brave  soldier 
and  a  citizen  of  my  own  or  of  any  country, 
indeed,  which  happens  to  have  the  most  sym 
pathetic  Consul-General. " 

Burke  smiled  grimly,  with  a  condescending 
nod,  and  putting  away  the  cigar,  took  out  a 
brier  pipe  and  began  to  fill  it  from  his  tobacco- 
pouch.  "  The  Captain  is  a  man  of  few  words 
and  extremely  modest  about  himself,"  Clay 
continued,  lightly ;  "  so  I  must  tell  you  who  he 
is  myself.  He  is  a  promoter  of  revolutions. 
That  is  his  business,  —  a  professional  promoter 
of  revolutions,  and  that  is  what  makes  me  so 
glad  to  see  him  again.  He  knows  all  about 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  199 

the  present  crisis  here,  and  he  is  going  to  tell 
us  all  he  knows  as  soon  as  he  fills  his  pipe.  1 
ought  to  warn  you,  Burke,"  he  added,  "that 
this  is  Captain  Stuart,  in  charge  of  the  police 
and  the  President's  cavalry  troop.  So,  you 
see,  whatever  you  say,  you  will  have  one  man 
who  will  listen  to  you." 

Burke  crossed  one  short  fat  leg  over  the 
other,  and  crowded  the  tobacco  in  the  bowl  of 
his  pipe  with  his  thumb. 

"I  thought  you  were  in  Chili,  Clay,"  he  said. 

"No,  you  didn't  think  I  was  in  Chili,"  Clay 
replied,  kindly.  "I  left  Chili  two  years  ago. 
The  Captain  and  I  met  there,"  he  explained  to 
the  others,  "when  Balmaceda  was  trying  to 
make  himself  dictator.  The  Captain  was  on 
the  side  of  the  Congressionalists,  and  was  fur 
nishing  arms  and  dynamite.  The  Captain  is 
always  on  the  winning  side,  at  least  he  always 
has  been  —  up  to  the  present.  He  is  not  a 
creature  of  sentiment;  are  you,  Burke?  The 
Captain  believes  with  Napoleon  that  God  is  on 
the  side  that  has  the  heaviest  artillery." 

Burke  lighted  his  pipe  and  drummed  absent- 
mindedly  on  the  table  with  his  match-box. 

"I  can't  afford  to  be  sentimental,"  he  said. 
"Not  in  my  business." 

"Of  course  not,"  Clay  assented,  cheerfully. 


200  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

» 

He  looked  at  Burke  and  laughed,  as  though 
the  sight  of  him  recalled  pleasant  memories. 
"I  wish  I  could  give  these  boys  any  idea  of  how 
clever  you  are,  Captain,"  he  said.  "The  Cap 
tain  was  the  first  man,  for  instance,  to  think 
of  packing  cartridges  in  tubs  of  lard,  and  of 
sending  rifles  in  piano-cases.  He  represents 
the  Wei  by  revolver  people  in  England,  and 
half  a  dozen  firms  in  the  States,  and  he  has  his 
little  stores  in  Tampa  and  Mobile  and  Jamaica, 
ready  to  ship  off  at  a  moment's  notice  to  any 
revolution  in  Central  America.  When  I  first 
met  the  Captain,"  Clay  continued,  gleefully, 
and  quite  unmindful  of  the  other's  continued 
silence,  "he  was  starting  off  to  rescue  Arabi 
Pasha  from  the  island  of  Ceylon.  You  may 
remember,  boys,  that  when  Bufferin  saved 
Arabi  from  hanging,  the  British  shipped  him 
to  Ceylon  as  a  political  prisoner.  Well,  the 
Captain  was  sent  by  Arabi 's  followers  in  Egypt 
to  bring  him  back  to  lead  a  second  rebellion. 
Burke  had  everybody  bribed  at  Ceylon,  and  a 
fine  schooner  fitted  out  and  a  lot  of  ruffians  to 
do  the  fighting,  and  then  the  good,  kind  British 
Government  pardoned  Arabi  the  day  before 
Burke  arrived  in  port.  And  you  never  got  a 
cent  for  it;  did  you,  Burke?" 
Burke  shook  his  head  and  frowned. 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  201 

"  Six  thousand  pounds  sterling  I  was  to  have 
got  for  that,"  he  said,  with  a  touch  of  pardon 
able  pride  in  his  voice,  "  and  they  set  him  free 
the  day  before  I  got  there,  just  as  Mr.  Clay 
tells  you." 

"And  then  you  headed  Granville  Prior's 
expedition  for  buried  treasure  off  the  island  of 
Cocos,  did  n't  you?"  said  Clay.  "Go  on,  tell 
them  about  it.  Be  sociable.  You  ought  to 
write  a  book  about  your  different  business 
ventures,  Burke,  indeed  you  ought;  but  then," 
Clay  added,  smiling,  "nobody  would  believe 
you."  Burke  rubbed  his  chin,  thoughtfully, 
with  his  fingers,  and  looked  modestly  at  the 
ceiling,  and  the  two  younger  boys  gazed  at 
him  with  open-mouthed  interest. 

"There  ain't  anything  in  buried  treasure," 
he  said,  after  a  pause,  "  except  the  money  that 's 
sunk  in  the  fitting  out.  It  sounds  good,  but 
it's  all  foolishness." 

" All  foolishness,  eh?"  said  Clay,  encourag 
ingly.  "  And  what  did  you  do  after  Balmaceda 
was  beaten  ?  —  after  I  last  saw  you  ?  " 

"Crespo,"  Burke  replied,  after  a  pause, 
during  which  he  pulled  gently  on  his  pipe. 
"  *  Caroline  Brewer  '  —  cleared  from  Key  West 
for  Curacao,  with  cargo  of  sewing-machines  and 
ploughs  —  beached  below  Maracaibo  —  thirty- 


202  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

five  thousand  rounds  and  two  thousand  rifles  — 
at  twenty  bolivers  apiece." 

"Of  course,"  said  Clay,  in  a  tone  of  genuine 
appreciation.  "  I  might  have  known  you  'd  be 
in  that.  He  says,"  he  explained,  "that  he 
assisted  General  Crespo  in  Venezuela  during  his 
revolution  against  Guzman  Blanco's  party,  and 
loaded  a  tramp  steamer  called  the  '  Caroline 
Brewer '  at  Key  West  with  arms,  which  he 
landed  safely  at  a  place  for  which  he  had  no 
clearance  papers,  and  he  received  forty  thou 
sand  dollars  in  our  money  for  the  job  —  and 
very  good  pay,  too,  I  should  think,"  commented 
Clay. 

"Well,  I  don't  know,"  Burke  demurred. 
"You  take  in  the  cost  of  leasing  the  boat  and 
provisioning  her,  and  the  crew's  wages,  and 
the  cost  of  the  cargo;  that  cuts  into  profits. 
Then  I  had  to  stand  off  shore  between  Trinidad 
and  Curacao  for  over  three  weeks  before  I  got 
the  signal  to  run  in,  and  after  that  I  was  chased 
by  a  gun-boat  for  three  days,  and  the  crazy  fool 
put  a  shot  clean  through  my  engine-room. 
Cost  me  about  twelve  hundred  dollars  in 
repairs." 

There  was  a  pause,  and  Clay  turned  his  eyes 
to  the  street,  and  then  asked,  abruptly,  "  What 
are  you  doing  now  ?  " 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  203 

"  Trying  to  get  orders  for  smokeless  powder, " 
Burke  answered,  promptly.  He  met  Clay's 
look  with  eyes  as  undisturbed  as  his  own. 
"  But  they  won't  touch  it  down  here, "  he  went 
on.  "It  doesn't  appeal  to  'em.  It's  too 
expensive,  and  they  'd  rather  see  the  smoke. 
It  makes  them  think  —  " 

"  How  long  did  you  expect  to  stay  here  ?  " 
Clay  interrupted. 

"  How  long  ?  "  repeated  Burke,  like  a  man  in 
a  witness-box  who  is  trying  to  gain  time. 
"Well,  I  was  thinking  of  leaving  by  Friday, 
and  taking  a  mule-train  over  to  Bogota  instead 
of  waiting  for  the  steamer  to  Colon."  He  blew 
a  mouthful  of  smoke  into  the  air  and  watched 
it  drifting  toward  the  door  with  apparent 
interest. 

"  The  c  Santiago  '  leaves  here  Saturday  for 
New  York.  I  guess  you  had  better  wait  over  for 
her,"  Clay  said.  "I'll  engage  your  passage, 
and,  in  the  meantime,  Captain  Stuart  here  will 
see  that  they  treat  you  well  in  the  cuartel." 

The  men  around  the  table  started,  and  sat 
motionless  looking  at  Clay,  but  Burke  only 
took  his  pipe  from  his  mouth  and  knocked  the 
ashes  out  on  the  heel  of  his  boot.  "  What  am 
I  going  to  the  cuartel  for  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Well,  the  public  good,  I  suppose, "  laughed 


204  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

Clay.  "  I  'm  sorry,  but  it 's  your  own  fault. 
You  shouldn't  have  shown  yourself  here  at 
all." 

"  What  have  you  got  to  do  with  it  ?  "  asked 
Burke,  calmly,  as  he  began  to  refill  his  pipe. 
He  had  the  air  of  a  man  who  saw  nothing 
before  him  but  an  afternoon  of  pleasant  dis 
course  and  leisurely  inactivity. 

"You  know  what  I've  got  to  do  with  it," 
Clay  replied.  "  I  've  got  our  concession  to  look 
after." 

"  Well,  you  're  not  running  the  town,  too, 
are  you  ?  "  asked  Burke. 

"No,  but  I'm  going  to  run  you  out  of  it," 
Clay  answered.  "  Now,  what  are  you  going  to 
do,  —  make  it  unpleasant  for  us  and  force  our 
hand,  or  drive  down  quietly  with  our  friend 
Mac  Williams  here  ?  He  is  the  best  one  to  take 
you,  because  he  's  not  so  well  known. " 

Burke  turned  his  head  and  looked  over  his 
shoulder  at  Stuart. 

"You  taking  orders  from  Mr.  Clay,  to-day, 
Captain  Stuart  ?  "  he  asked. 

"Yes,"  Stuart  answered,  smiling.  "I  agree 
with  Mr.  Clay  in  whatever  he  thinks  right." 

"Oh,  well,  in  that  case,"  said  Burke,  rising 
reluctantly,  with  a  protesting  sigh,  "  I  guess 
I'd  better  call  on  the  American  minister." 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  205 

"  You  can't.  He  's  in  Ecuador  on  his  annual 
visit,"  said  Clay. 

"Indeed!  That's  bad  for  me,"  muttered 
Burke,  as  though  in  much  concern.  "Well, 
then,  I  '11  ask  you  to  let  me  see  our  consul 
here." 

"Certainly,"  Clay  assented,  with  alacrity. 
"  Mr.  Langham,  this  young  gentleman's  father 
got  him  his  appointment,  so  I  've  no  doubt  he  '11 
be  only  too  glad  to  do  anything  for  a  friend  of 
ours." 

Burke  raised  his  eyes  and  looked  inquiringly 
at  Clay,  as  though  to  assure  himself  that  this 
was  true,  and  Clay  smiled  back  at  him. 

"Oh,  very  well,"  Burke  said.  "Then,  as  I 
happen  to  be  an  Irishman  by  the  name  of 
Burke,  and  a  British  subject,  I  '11  try  Her 
Majesty's  representative,  and  we  '11  see  if  he 
will  allow  me  to  be  locked  up  without  a  reason 
or  a  warrant. " 

"That's  no  good,  either,"  said  Clay,  shak 
ing  his  head.  "You  fixed  your  nationality,  as 
far  as  this  continent  is  concerned,  in  Rio  har 
bor,  when  Peixoto  handed  you  over  to  the 
British  admiral,  and  you  claimed  to  be  an 
American  citizen,  and  were  sent  on  board  the 
'  Detroit. '  If  there 's  any  doubt  about  that 
we  've  only  got  to  cable  to  Rio  Janeiro  —  to 


206  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

either  legation.  But  what 's  the  use  ?  They 
know  me  here,  and  they  don't  know  you,  and  I 
do.  You  '11  have  to  go  to  jail  and  stay  there." 

"Oh,  well,  if  you  put  it  that  way,  I'll  go," 
said  Burke.  "But,"  he  added,  in  a  lower 
voice,  "it's  too  late,  Clay." 

The  expression  of  amusement  on  CJay's  face, 
and  his  ease  of  manner,  fell  from  him  at  the 
words,  and  he  pulled  Burke  back  into  the  chair 
again.  "  What  do  you  mean  ? "  he  asked, 
anxiously. 

"  I  mean  just  that,  it 's  too  late, "  Burke 
answered.  "I  don't  mind  going  to  jail.  I 
won't  be  there  long.  My  work  's  all  done  and 
paid  for.  I  was  only  staying  on  to  see  the  fun 
at  the  finish,  to  see  you  fellows  made  fools  of. " 

"  Oh,  you  're  sure  of  that,  are  you  ?  "  asked 
Clay.  ' 

"  My  dear  boy ! "  exclaimed  the  American, 
with  a  suggestion  in  his  speech  of  his  Irish 
origin,  as  his  interest  rose.  "Did  you  ever 
know  me  to  go  into  anything  of  this  sort  for 
the  sentiment  of  it  ?  Did  you  ever  know  me  to 
back  the  losing  side  ?  No.  Well,  I  tell  you 
that  you  fellows  have  no  more  show  in  this 
than  a  parcel  of  Sunday-school  children.  Of 
course  I  can't  say  when  they  mean  to  strike.  I 
don't  know,  and  I  would  n't  tell  you  if  I  did. 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  207 

But  when  they  do  strike  there  '11  be  no  striking 
back.  It  '11  be  all  over  but  the  cheering." 

Burke 's  tone  was  calm  and  positive.  He 
held  the  centre  of  the  stage  now,  and  he  looked 
from  one  to  the  other  of  the  serious  faces 
around  him  with  an  expression  of  pitying 
amusement. 

"Alvarez  may  get  off,  and  so  may  Madame 
Alvarez,"  he  added,  lowering  his  voice  and 
turning  his  face  away  from  Stuart.  "  But  not 
if  she  shows  herself  in  the  streets,  and  not  if 
she  tries  to  take  those  drafts  and  jewels  with 
her." 

"  Oh,  you  know  that,  do  you  ?  "  interrupted 
Clay. 

"I  know  nothing,"  Burke  replied.  "At 
least,  nothing  to  what  the  rest  of  them  know. 
That 's  only  the  gossip  I  pick  up  at  headquar 
ters.  It  does  n't  concern  me.  I  've  delivered 
my  goods  and  given  my  receipt  for  the  money, 
and  that's  all  I  care  about.  But  if  it  will 
make  an  old  friend  feel  any  more  comfortable 
to  have  me  in  jail,  why,  I  '11  go,  that's  all." 

Clay  sat  with  pursed  lips  looking  at  Stuart. 
The  two  boys  leaned  with  their  elbows  on  the 
tables  and  stared  at  Burke,  who  was  searching 
leisurely  through  his  pockets  for  his  match 
box.  From  outside  came  the  lazy  cry  of  a 


208  SOLDIERS   OF  FOP-TUNE 

vendor  of  lottery  tickets,  and  the  swift,  uneven 
patter  of  bare  feet,  as  company  after  company 
of  dust-covered  soldiers  passed  on  their  way 
from  the  provinces,  with  their  shoes  swinging 
from  their  bayonets. 

Clay  slapped  the  table  with  an  exclamation 
of  impatience. 

"After  all,  this  is  only  a  matter  of  business," 
he  said,  "with  all  of  us.  What  do  you  say, 
Burke,  to  taking  a  ride  with  me  to  Stuart's 
rooms,  and  having  a  talk  there  with  the  Presi 
dent  and  Mr.  Langham  ?  Langham  has  three 
millions  sunk  in  these  mines,  and  Alvarez  has 
even  better  reasons  than  that  for  wanting  to 
hold  his  job.  What  do  you  say  ?  That 's  better 
than  going  to  jail.  Tell  us  what  they  mean  to 
do,  and  who  is  to  do  it,  and  I  '11  let  you  name 
your  own  figure,  and  I  '11  guarantee  you  that 
they  '11  meet  it.  As  long  as  you  've  no  senti 
ment,  you  might  as  well  fight  on  the  side  that 
will  pay  best." 

Burke  opened  his  lips  as  though  to  speak, 
and  then  shut  them  again,  closely.  If  the 
others  thought  that  he  was  giving  Clay's  propo 
sition  a  second  and  more  serious  thought,  he 
was  quick  to  undeceive  them. 

"  There  are  men  in  the  business  who  do  that 
sort  of  thing,"  he  said.  "They  sell  arms  to 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  209 

one  man,  and  sell  the  fact  that  he  's  got  them 
to  the  deputy-marshals,  and  sell  the  story  of 
how  smart  they  've  been  to  the  newspapers. 
And  they  never  make  any  more  sales  after  that. 
I  'd  look  pretty,  would  n't  I,  bringing  stuff  into 
this  country,  and  getting  paid  for  it,  and  then 
telling  you  where  it  was  hid,  and  everything 
else  I  knew  ?  I  've  no  sentiment,  as  you  say, 
but  I  've  got  business  instinct,  and  that 's  not 
business.  No,  I  've  told  you  enough,  and  if 
you  think  I  'm  not  safe  at  large,  why  I  'm  quite 
ready  to  take  a  ride  with  your  young  friend 
here." 

Mac  Williams  rose  with  alacrity,  and  beam 
ing  with  pleasure  at  the  importance  of  the  duty 
thrust  upon  him. 

Burke  smiled.  "  The  young  'tm  seems  to  like 
the  job,"  he  said. 

"  It 's  an  honor  to  be  associated  with  Captain 
Burke  in  any  way,"  said  Mac  Williams,  as  he 
followed  him  into  a  cab,  while  Stuart  galloped 
off  before  them  in  the  direction  of  the  cuarte*!. 

"You  wouldn't  think  so  if  you  knew  better," 
said  Burke.  "  My  friends  have  been  watching 
us  while  we  have  been  talking  in  there  for  the 
last  hour.  They  're  watching  us  now,  and  if  I 
were  to  nod  my  head  during  this  ride,  they  'd 
throw  you  out  into  the  street  and  set  me  free, 
U 


210  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

if  they  had  to  break  the  cab  into  kindling-wood 
while  they  were  doing  it." 

MacWilliams  changed  his  seat  to  the  one 
opposite  his  prisoner,  and  peered  up  and  down 
the  street  in  some  anxiety. 

"  I  suppose  you  know  there  's  an  answer  to 
that,  don't  you  ?  "  he  asked.  "  Well,  the  an 
swer  is,  that  if  you  nod  your  head  once,  you 
lose  the  top  of  it." 

Burke  gave  an  exclamation  of  disgust,  and 
gazed  at  his  zealous  guardian  with  an  expres 
sion  of  trepidation  and  unconcealed  disapproval. 
"  You  're  not  armed,  are  you  ?  "  he  asked. 

MacWilliams  nodded.  "Why  not?"  he 
said;  "these  are  rather  heavy  weather  times, 
just  at  present,  thanks  to  you  and  your  friends. 
Why,  you  seem  rather  afraid  of  fire-arms,"  he 
added,  with  the  intolerance  of  youth. 

The  Irish-American  touched  the  young  man 
on  the  knee,  and  lifted  his  hat.  "  My  son, "  he 
said,  "  when  your  hair  is  as  gray  as  that,  and 
you  have  been  through  six  campaigns,  you  '11 
be  brave  enough  to  own  that  you  're  afraid  of 
fire-arms,  too." 


CLAY  and  Langham  left  MacWilliams  and 
Stuart  to  look  after  their  prisoner,  and  returned 
to  the  Palms,  where  they  dined  in  state,  and 
made  no  reference,  while  the  women  were 
present,  to  the  events  of  the  day. 

The  moon  rose  late  that  night,  and  as  Hope 
watched  it,  from  where  she  sat  at  the  dinner- 
table  facing  the  open  windows,  she  saw  the 
figure  of  a  man  standing  outlined  in  silhouette 
upon  the  edge  of  the  cliff.  He  was  dressed  in 
the  uniform  of  a  sailor,  and  the  moonlight 
played  along  the  barrel  of  a  rifle  upon  which 
he  leaned,  motionless  and  menacing,  like  a 
sentry  on  a  rampart. 

Hope  opened  her  lips  to  speak,  and  then 
closed  them  again,  and  smiled  with  pleasurable 
excitement.  A  moment  later  King,  who  sat  on 
her  right,  called  one  of  the  servants  to  his  side 
and  whispered  some  instructions,  pointing  mean 
while  at  the  wine  upon  the  table.  And  a 
minute  after,  Hope  saw  the  white  figure  of  the 


212  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

servant  cross  the  garden  and  approach  the  sen 
tinel.  She  saw  the  sentry  fling  his  gun  sharply 
to  his  hip,  and  then,  after  a  moment's  parley, 
toss  it  up  to  his  shoulder  and  disappear  from 
sight  among  the  plants  of  the  garden. 

The  men  did  not  leave  the  table  with  the 
ladies,  as  was  their  custom,  but  remained  in 
the  dining-room,  and  drew  their  chairs  closer 
together. 

Mr.  Langham  would  not  believe  that  the 
downfall  of  the  Government  was  as  imminent  as 
the  others  believed  it  to  be.  It  was  only  after 
much  argument,  and  with  great  reluctance,  that 
he  had  even  allowed  King  to  arm  half  of  his 
crew,  and  to  place  them  on  guard  around  the 
Palms.  Clay  warned  him  that  in  the  disorder 
that  followed  every  successful  revolution,  the 
homes  of  unpopular  members  of  the  Cabinet 
were  often  burned,  and  that  he  feared,  should 
Mendoza  succeed,  and  Alvarez  fall,  that  the 
mob  might  possibly  vent  its  victorious  wrath 
on  the  Palms  because  it  was  the  home  of  the 
alien,  who  had,  as  they  thought,  robbed  the 
country  of  the  iron  mines.  Mr.  Langham  said 
he  did  not  think  the  people  would  tramp  five 
miles  into  the  country  seeking  vengeance. 

There  was  an  American  man-of-war  lying  in 
the  harbor  of  Truxillo,  a  seaport  of  the  republic 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  213 

that  bounded  Olancbo  on  the  south,  and  Clay 
was  in  favor  of  sending  to  her  captain  by 
Weimer,  the  Consul,  and  asking  him  to  anchor 
off  Valencia,  to  protect  American  interests. 
The  run  would  take  but  a  few  hours,  and  the 
sight  of  the  vessel's  white  hull  in  the  harbor 
would,  he  thought,  have  a  salutary  effect  upon 
the  revolutionists.  But  Mr.  Langham  said, 
firmly,  that  he  would  not  ask  for  help  until  he 
needed  it. 

"Well,  I'm  sorry,"  said  Clay.  "I  should 
very  much  like  to  have  that  man-of-war  here. 
However,  if  you  say  no,  we  will  try  to  get  along 
without  her.  But,  for  the  present,  I  think  you 
had  better  imagine  yourself  back  in  New  York, 
and  let  us  have  an  entirely  free  hand.  We  've 
gone  too  far  to  drop  out,"  he  went  on,  laughing 
at  the  sight  of  Mr.  Langham's  gloomy  counte 
nance.  "  We  've  got  to  fight  them  now.  It 's 
against  human  nature  not  to  do  it." 

Mr.  Langham  looked  appealingly  at  his  son 
and  at  King. 

They  both  smiled  back  at  him  in  unanimous 
disapproval  of  his  policy  of  non-interference. 

"Oh,  very  well,"  he  said,  at  last.  "You 
gentlemen  can  go  ahead,  kill,  burn,  and  destroy 
if  you  wish.  But,  considering  the  fact  that  it 
is  my  property  you  are  all  fighting  about,  I 


214  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

really  think  I  might  have  something  to  say  in 
the  matter."  Mr.  Langham  gazed  about  him 
helplessly,  and  shook  his  head. 

"  My  doctor  sends  me  down  here  from  a  quiet, 
happy  home,"  he  protested,  with  humorous 
pathos,  "that  I  may  rest  and  get  away  from 
excitement,  and  here  I  am  with  armed  men 
patrolling  my  garden-paths,  with  a  lot  of  fili 
busters  plotting  at  my  own  dinner-table,  and  a 
civil  war  likely  to  break  out,  entirely  on  my 
account.  And  Dr.  Winter  told  me  this  was  the 
only  place  that  would  cure  my  nervous  prostra 
tion!" 

Hope  joined  Clay  as  soon  as  the  men  left  the 
dining-room,  and  beckoned  him  to  the  farther 
end  of  the  veranda.  "  Well,  what  is  it  ?  "  she 
said. 

"  What  is  what  ?  "  laughed  Clay.  He  seated 
himself  on  the  rail  of  the  veranda,  with  his 
face  to  the  avenue  and  the  driveway  leading  to 
the  house.  They  could  hear  the  others  from 
the  back  of  the  house,  and  the  voice  of  young 
Langham,  who  was  giving  an  imitation  of 
MacWilliams,  and  singing  with  peculiar  em 
phasis,  "There  is  no  place  like  Home,  Sweet 
Home." 

"  Why  are  the  men  guarding  the  Palms,  and 
why  did  you  go  to  the  Plaza  Bolivar  this  morn- 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  215 

ing  at  daybreak  ?  Alice  says  you  left  them 
there.  I  want  to  know  what  it  means.  I  am 
nearly  as  old  as  Ted,  and  he  knows.  The  men 
wouldn't  tell  me." 

"  What  men  ?  " 

"King's  men  from  the  'Vesta.'  I  saw  some 
of  them  dodging  around  in  the  bushes,  and  I 
went  to  find  out  what  they  were  doing,  and  I 
walked  into  fifteen  of  them  at  your  office. 
They  have  hammocks  swung  all  over  the 
veranda,  and  a  quick-firing  gun  made  fast  to 
the  steps,  and  muskets  stacked  all  about,  just 
like  real  soldiers,  but  they  wouldn't  tell  me 
why." 

"We  '11  put  you  in  the  carcel,"  said  Clay  "if 
you  go  spying  on  our  forces.  Your  father 
doesn't  wish  you  to  know  anything  about  it, 
but,  since  you  have  found  it  out  for  yourself, 
you  might  as  well  know  what  little  there  is  to 
know.  It 's  the  same  story.  Mendoza  is  get 
ting  ready  to  start  his  revolution,  or,  rather, 
he  has  started  it." 

"  Why  don't  you  stop  him  ?  "  asked  Hope. 

"  You  are  very  flattering, "  said  Clay.  "  Even 
if  I  could  stop  him,  it 's  not  my  business  to  do 
it  as  yet.  I  have  to  wait  until  he  interferes 
with  me,  or  my  mines,  or  my  workmen. 
Alvarez  is  the  man  who  should  stop  him,  but 


216  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

he  is  afraid.  We  cannot  do  anything  until  he 
makes  the  first  move.  If  I  were  the  President, 
I  'd  have  Mendoza  shot  to-morrow  morning  and 
declare  martial  law.  Then  I  'd  arrest  every 
body  I  did  n't  like,  and  levy  forced  loans  on  all 
the  merchants,  and  sail  away  to  Paris  and  live 
happy  ever  after.  That 's  what  Mendoza  would 
do  if  he  caught  any  one  plotting  against  him. 
And  that 's  what  Alvarez  should  do,  too,  ac 
cording  to  his  lights,  if  he  had  the  courage  of 
his  convictions,  and  of  his  education.  I  like 
to  see  a  man  play  his  part  properly,  don't  you  ? 
If  you  are  an  emperor,  you  ought  to  conduct 
yourself  like  one,  as  our  German  friend  does. 
Or  if  you  are  a  prize-lighter,  you  ought  to  bo  a 
human  bull-dog.  There  's  no  such  thing  as  a 
gentlemanly  pugilist,  any  more  than  there  can 
be  a  virtuous  burglar.  And  if  you  're  a  South 
American  Dictator,  you  can't  afford  to  be 
squeamish  about  throwing  your  enemies  into 
jail  or  shooting  them  for  treason.  The  way  to 
dictate  is  to  dictate,  — not  to  hide  indoors  all 
day  while  your  wife  plots  for  you. " 

"Does  she  do  that?"  asked  Hope.  "And 
do  you  think  she  will  be  in  danger  —  any  per 
sonal  danger,  if  the  revolution  comes  ?  " 

"Well,  she  is  very  unpopular,"  Clay  an 
swered,  "and  unjustly  so,  I  think.  But  it 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  217 

would  be  better,  perhaps,  for  her  if  she  went  as 
quietly  as  possible,  when  she  does  go. " 

"  Is  our  Captain  Stuart  in  danger,  too  ?  "  the 
girl  continued,  anxiously.  "  Alice  says  they 
put  up  placards  about  him  all  over  the  city  last 
night.  She  saw  his  men  tearing  them  down  as 
she  was  coming  home.  What  has  he  done  ?  " 

"Nothing,"  Clay  answered,  shortly.  "He 
happens  to  be  in  a  false  position,  that  ?s  all. 
They  think  he  is  here  because  he  is  not  wanted 
in  his  own  country;  that  is  not  so.  That  is 
not  the  reason  he  remains  here.  When  he  was 
even  younger  than  he  is  now,  he  was  wild  and 
foolish,  and  spent  more  money  than  he  could 
afford,  and  lent  more  money  to  his  brother- 
officers,  1  have  no  doubt,  than  they  ever  paid 
back.  He  had  to  leave  the  regiment  because 
his  father  would  n't  pay  his  debts,  and  he  has 
been  selling  his  sword  for  the  last  three  years 
to  one  or  another  king  or  sultan  or  party  all 
over  the  world,  in  China  and  Madagascar,  and 
later  in  Siam.  I  hope  you  will  be  very  kind  to 
Stuart  and  believe  well  of  him,  and  that  you 
will  listen  to  no  evil  against  him.  Somewhere 
in  England  Stuart  has  a  sister  like  you  —  about 
your  age,  I  mean,  that  loves  him  very  dearly, 
and  a  father  whose  heart  aches  for  him,  and 
there  is  a  certain  royal  regiment  that  still 


218  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

drinks  his  health  with  pride.  He  is  a  lonely 
little  chap,  and  he  has  no  sense  of  humor  to 
help  him  out  of  his  difficulties,  but  he  is  a  very 
brave  gentleman.  And  he  is  here  fighting  for 
men  who  are  not  worthy  to  hold  his  horse's 
bridle,  because  of  a  woman.  And  I  tell  you 
this  because  you  will  hear  many  lies  about  him 
—  and  about  her.  He  serves  her  with  the  same 
sort  of  chivalric  devotion  that  his  ancestors  felt 
for  the  woman  whose  ribbons  they  tied  to  their 
lances,  and  for  whom  they  fought  in  the  lists. " 

"I  understand,"  Hope  said,  softly.  "I  am 
glad  you  told  me.  1  shall  not  forget."  She 
sighed  and  shook  her  head.  "  I  wish  they  'd  let 
you  manage  it  for  them, "  she  said. 

Clay  laughed.  "I  fear  my  executive  ability 
is  not  of  so  high  an  order ;  besides,  as  I  have  n't 
been  born  to  it,  my  conscience  might  trouble 
me  if  I  had  to  shoot  my  enemies  and  rob  the 
worthy  merchants.  I  had  better  stick  to  dig 
ging  holes  in  the  ground.  That  is  all  I  seem 
to  be  good  for. " 

Hope  looked  up  at  him,  quickly,  in  surprise. 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  that  ? "  she  de 
manded.  There  was  a  tone  of  such  sharp 
reproach  in  her  voice  that  Clay  felt  himself  put 
on  the  defensive. 

"I   mean  nothing  by  it,"  he  said.     "Your 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  219 

sister  and  I  had  a  talk  the  other  day  about  a 
man's  making  the  best  of  himself,  and  it 
opened  my  eyes  to  —  to  many  things.  It  was  a 
very  healthy  lesson. " 

"  It  could  not  have  been  a  very  healthy  lesson, " 
Hope  replied,  severely,  "  if  it  makes  you  speak 
of  your  work  slightingly,  as  you  did  then. 
That  did  n't  sound  at  all  natural,  or  like  you. 
It  sounded  like  Alice.  Tell  me,  did  Alice  say 
that  ? " 

The  pleasure  of  hearing  Hope  take  his  part 
against  himself  was  so  comforting  to  Clay  that 
he  hesitated  in  answering  in  order  to  enjoy 
it  the  longer.  Her  enthusiasm  touched  him 
deeply,  and  he  wondered  if  she  were  enthusi 
astic  because  she  was  young,  or  because  she 
was  sure  she  was  right,  and  that  he  was  in 
the  wrong. 

"  It  started  this  way, "  Clay  began,  carefully. 
He  was  anxious  to  be  quite  fair  to  Miss  Lang- 
ham,  but  he  found  it  difficult  to  give  her  point 
of  view  correctly,  while  he  was  hungering  for 
a  word  that  would  re-establish  him  in  his  own 
good  opinion.  "Your  sister  said  she  did  not 
think  very  much  of  what  I  had  done,  but  she 
explained  kindly  that  she  hoped  for  better 
things  from  me.  But  what  troubles  me  is,  that 
I  will  never  do  anything  much  better  or  very 


220  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

different  in  kind  from  the  work  I  have  done 
lately,  and  so  I  am  a  bit  discouraged  about  it 
inconsequence.  You  see,"  said  Clay,  "when 
I  come  to  die,  and  they  ask  me  what  I  have 
done  with  my  ten  fingers,  I  suppose  I  will  have 
to  say,  '  Well,  I  built  such  and  such  railroads, 
and  I  dug  up  so  many  tons  of  ore,  and  opened 
new  countries,  and  helped  make  other  men 
rich. '  I  can't  urge  in  my  behalf  that  I  happen 
to  have  been  so  fortunate  as  to  have  gained  the 
good-will  of  yourself  or  your  sister.  That  is 
quite  reason  enough  to  me,  perhaps,  for  having 
lived,  but  it  might  not  appeal  to  them.  I  want 
to  feel  that  I  have  accomplished  something 
outside  of  myself  —  something  that  will  remain 
after  I  go.  Even  if  it  is  only  a  breakwater  or 
a  patent  coupling.  When  I  am  dead  it  will  not 
matter  to  any  one  what  I  personally  was, 
whether  I  was  a  bore  or  a  most  charming  com- 

o 

panion,  or  whether  I  had  red  hair  or  blue.  It 
is  the  work  that  will  tell.  And  when  your 
sister,  whose  judgment  is  the  judgment  of  the 
outside  world,  more  or  less,  says  that  the  work 
is  not  worth  while,  I  naturally  feel  a  bit  dis 
couraged.  It  meant  so  much  to  me,  and  it  hurt 
me  to  find  it  meant  so  little  to  others." 

Hope  remained  silent  for  some  time,  but  the 
rigidity  of  her  attitude,  and  the  tightness  with 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  221 

which  she  pressed  her  lips  together,  showed 
that  her  mind  was  deeply  occupied.  They  both 
sat  silent  for  some  few  moments,  looking  down 
toward  the  distant  lights  of  the  city.  At 
the  farther  end  of  the  double  row  of  bushes 
that  lined  the  avenue  they  could  see  one  of 
King's  sentries  passing  to  and  fro  across  the 
roadway,  a  long  black  shadow  on  the  moonlit 
road. 

"You  are  very  unfair  to  yourself,"  the  girl 
said  at  last,  "  and  Alice  does  not  represent  the 
opinion  of  the  world,  only  of  a  very  small  part 
of  it  —  her  own  little  world.  She  does  not 
know  how  little  it  is.  And  you  are  wrong  as 
to  what  they  will  ask  you  at  the  end.  What 
will  they  care  whether  you  built  railroads  or 
painted  impressionist  pictures  ?  They  will  ask 
you  '  What  have  you  made  of  yourself  ?  Have 
you  been  fine,  and  strong,  and  sincere  ? '  That 
is  what  they  will  ask.  And  we  like  you  be 
cause  you  are  all  of  these  things,  and  because 
you  look  at  life  so  cheerfully,  and  are  unafraid. 
We  do  not  like  men  because  they  build  rail 
roads,  or  because  they  are  prime-ministers. 
We  like  them  for  what  they  are  themselves. 
And  as  to  your  work ! "  Hope  added,  and  then 
paused  in  eloquent  silence.  "I  think  it  is  a 
grand  work,  and  a  noble  work,  full  of  hardships 


222  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

and  self-sacrifices.  I  do  not  know  of  any  man 
who  has  done  more  with  his  life  than  you  have 
done  with  yours. "  She  stopped  and  controlled 
her  voice  before  she  spoke  again.  "  You  should 
be  very  proud,"  she  said. 

Clay  lowered  his  eyes  and  sat  silent,  looking 
down  the  roadway.  The  thought  that  the  girl 
felt  what  she  said  so  deeply,  and  that  the  fact 
that  she  had  said  it  meant  more  to  him  than 
anything  else  in  the  world  could  mean,  left  him 
thrilled  and  trembling.  He  wanted  to  reach 
out  his  hand  and  seize  both  of  hers,  and  tell 
her  how  much  she  was  to  him,  but  it  seemed 
like  taking  advantage  of  the  truths  of  a  confes 
sional,  or  of  a  child's  innocent  confidences. 

"No,  Miss  Hope,"  he  answered,  with  an 
effort  to  speak  lightly,  "  I  wish  I  could  believe 
you,  but  I  know  myself  better  than  any  one 
else  can,  and  I  know  that  while  my  bridges 
may  stand  examination  —  /  can't. " 

Hope  turned  and  looked  at  him  with  eyes 
full  of  such  sweet  meaning  that  he  was  forced 
to  turn  his  own  away. 

"I  could  trust  both,  I  think,"  the  girl  said. 

Clay  drew  a  quick,  deep  breath,  and  started 
to  his  feet,  as  though  he  had  thrown  off  the 
restraint  under  which  he  had  held  himself. 

It  was  not  a  girl,   but  a  woman  who  had 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  223 

spoken  then,  but,  though  he  turned  eagerly 
toward  her,  he  stood  with  his  head  bowed,  and 
did  not  dare  to  read  the  verdict  in  her  eyes. 

The  clatter  of  horses'  hoofs  coming  toward 
them  at  a  gallop  broke  in  rudely  upon  the  tense 
stillness  of  the  moment,  but  neither  noticed  it. 
"How  far,"  Clay  began,  in  a  strained  voice, 
"how  far,"  he  asked,  more  steadily,  "could 
you  trust  me  ?  " 

Hope's  eyes  had  closed  for  an  instant,  and 
opened  again,  and  she  smiled  upon  him  with  a 
look  of  perfect  confidence  and  content.  The 
beat  of  the  horses'  hoofs  came  now  from  the 
end  of  the  driveway,  and  they  could  hear  the 
men  at  the  rear  of  the  house  pushing  back  their 
chairs  and  hurrying  toward  them.  Hope  raised 
her  head,  and  Clay  moved  toward  her  eagerly. 
The  horses  were  within  a  hundred  yards. 
Before  Hope  could  speak,  the  sentry's  voice 
rang  out  in  a  hoarse,  sharp  challenge,  like  an 
alarm  of  fire  on  the  silent  night.  "Halt!" 
they  heard  him  cry.  And  as  the  horses  tore 
past  him,  and  their  riders  did  not  turn  to  look, 
he  shouted  again,  "  Halt,  damn  you ! "  and 
fired.  The  flash  showed  a  splash  of  red  and 
yellow  in  the  moonlight,  and  the  report  started 
into  life  hundreds  of  echoes  which  carried  it 
far  out  over  the  waters  of  the  harbor,  and  tossed 


224  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

it  into  sharp  angles,  and  distant  corners,  and 
in  an  instant  a  myriad  of  sounds  answered  it; 
the  frightened  cry  of  night-birds,  the  barking 
of  dogs  in  the  village  below,  and  the  footsteps 
of  men  running. 

Clay  glanced  angrily  down  the  avenue,  and 
turned  beseechingly  to  Hope. 

"Go,"  she  said.  "See  what  is  wrong,"  and 
moved  away  as  though  she  already  felt  that  he 
could  act  more  freely  when  she  was  not  near 
him. 

The  two  horses  fell  back  on  their  haunches 
before  the  steps,  and  MacWilliams  and  Stuart 
tumbled  out  of  their  saddles,  and  started,  run 
ning  back  on  foot  in  the  direction  from  which 
the  shot  had  come,  tugging  at  their  revolvers. 

"  Come  back, "  Clay  shouted  to  them.  "  That 's 
all  right.  He  was  only  obeying  orders.  That 's 
one  of  King's  sentries." 

"Oh,  is  that  it?"  said  Stuart,  in  matter-of- 
fact  tones,  as  he  turned  again  to  the  house. 
"  Good  idea.  Tell  him  to  fire  lower  next  time. 
And,  I  say, "  he  went  on,  as  he  bowed  curtly  to 
the  assembled  company  on  the  veranda,  "since 
you  have  got  a  picket  out,  you  had  better  double 
it.  And,  Clay,  see  that  no  one  leaves  here  with 
out  permission  —  no  one.  That 's  more  impor 
tant,  even,  than  keeping  them  out. " 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  225 

"  King,  will  you  —  "  Clay  began. 

"All  right,  General,"  laughed  King,  and 
walked  away  to  meet  his  sailors,  who  came 
running  up  the  hill  in  great  anxiety. 

MacWilliams  had  not  opened  his  lips,  but  he 
was  bristling  with  importance,  and  his  effort 
to  appear  calm  and  soldierly,  like  Stuart,  told 
more  plainly  than  speech  that  he  was  the  bearer 
of  some  invaluable  secret.  The  sight  filled 
young  Langham  with  a  disquieting  fear  that  he 
had  missed  something. 

Stuart  looked  about  him,  and  pulled  briskly 
at  his  gauntlets.  King  and  his  sailors  were 
grouped  together  on  the  grass  before  the  house. 
Mr.  Langham  and  his  daughters,  and  Clay, 
were  standing  on  the  steps,  and  the  servants 
were  peering  around  the  corners  of  the  house. 

Stuart  saluted  Mr.  Langham,  as  though  to 
attract  his  especial  attention,  and  then  ad 
dressed  himself  in  a  low  tone  to  Clay. 

"It's  come,"  he  said.  "We've  been  in  it 
since  dinner-time,  and  we  ?ve  got  a  whole 
night's  work  cut  out  for  you."  He  was  laugh 
ing  with  excitement,  and  paused  for  a  moment 
to  gain  breath.  "  I  '11  tell  you  the  worst  of  it 
first.  Mendoza  has  sent  word  to  Alvarez  that 
he  wants  the  men  at  the  mines  to  be  present  at 
the  review  to-morrow.  He  says  they  must  take 
15 


226  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

part.  He  wrote  a  most  insolent  letter.  Alvarez 
got  out  of  it  by  saying  that  the  men  were  under 
contract  to  you,  and  that  you  must  give  your 
permission  first.  Mendoza  sent  me  word  that 
if  you  would  not  let  the  men  come,  he  would 
go  out  and  fetch  them  in  himself." 

"Indeed!"  growled  Clay.  "Kirkland  needs 
those  men  to-morrow  to  load  ore-cars  for  Thurs 
day's  steamer.  He  can't  spare  them.  That  is 
our  answer,  and  it  happens  to  be  a  true  one, 
but  if  it  were  n't  true,  if  to-morrow  was  All 
Saints'  Day,  and  the  men  had  nothing  to  do 
but  to  lie  in  the  sun  and  sleep,  Mendoza 
could  n't  get  them.  And  if  he  comes  to  take 
them  to-morrow,  he  '11  have  to  bring  his  army 
with  him  to  do  it.  And  he  could  n't  do  it  then, 
Mr.  Langham,"  Clay  cried,  turning  to  that 
gentleman,  "  if  I  had  better  weapons.  The  five 
thousand  dollars  I  wanted  you  to  spend  on 
rifles,  sir,  two  months  ago,  might  have  saved 
you  several  millions  to-morrow." 

Clay's  words  seemed  to  bear  some  special 
significance  to  Stuart  and  Mac  Williams,  for 
they  both  laughed,  and  Stuart  pushed  Clay  up 
the  steps  before  him. 

"Come  inside,"  he  said.  "That  is  why  we 
are  here.  MacWilliams  has  found  out  where 
Burke  hid  his  shipment  of  arms.  We  are  going 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  227 

to  try  and  get  them  to-night."  He  hurried 
into  the  dining-room,  and  the  others  grouped 
themselves  about  the  table.  "  Tell  them  about 
it,  MacWilliams,"  Stuart  commanded.  "I 
will  see  that  no  one  overhears  you." 

MacWilliams  was  pushed  into  Mr.  Langham's 
place  at  the  head  of  the  long  table,  and  the 
others  dragged  their  chairs  up  close  around 
him.  King  put  the  candles  at  the  opposite 
end  of  the  table,  and  set  some  decanters  and 
glasses  in  the  centre.  "To  look  as  though  we 
were  just  enjoying  ourselves,"  he  explained, 
pleasantly. 

Mr.  Langham,  with  his  fine,  delicate  fingers 
beating  nervously  on  the  table,  observed  the 
scene  as  an  on-looker,  rather  than  as  the  person 
chiefly  interested.  He  smiled  as  he  appreciated 
the  incongruity  of  the  tableau,  and  the  contrast 
which  the  actors  presented  to  the  situation. 
He  imagined  how  much  it  would  amuse  his 
contemporaries  of  the  Union  Club,  at  home,  if 
they  could  see  him  then,  with  the  still,  tropical 
night  outside,  the  candles  reflected  on  the 
polished  table  and  on  the  angles  of  the  de 
canters,  and  showing  the  intent  faces  of  the 
young  girls  and  the  men  leaning  eagerly  for 
ward  around  MacWilliams,  who  sat  conscious 
and  embarrassed,  his  hair  dishevelled,  and  his 


228  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

face  covered  with  dust,  while  Stuart  paced  up 
and  down  in  the  shadow,  his  sabre  clanking  as 
he  walked. 

"Well,  it  happened  like  this,"  MacWilliams 
began,  nervously,  and  addressing  himself  to 
Clay.  "  Stuart  and  I  put  Burke  safely  in  a  cell 
by  himself.  It  was  one  of  the  old  ones  that 
face  the  street.  There  was  a  narrow  window  in 
it,  about  eight  feet  above  the  floor,  and  no 
means  of  his  reaching  it,  even  if  he  stood  on  a 
chair.  We  stationed  two  troopers  before  the 
door,  and  sent  out  to  a  caf£  across  the  street 
for  our  dinners.  I  finished  mine  about  nine 
o'clock,  and  said  '  Good-night '  to  Stuart,  and 
started  to  come  out  here.  I  went  across  the 
street  first,  however,  to  give  the  restaurant 
man  some  orders  about  Burke's  breakfast.  It 
is  a  narrow  street,  you  know,  with  a  long 
garden-wall  and  a  row  of  little  shops  on  one 
side,  and  with  the  jail-wall  taking  up  all  of  the 
other  side.  The  street  was  empty  when  I  left 
the  jail,  except  for  the  sentry  on  guard  in  front 
of  it,  but  just  as  I  was  leaving  the  restaurant  I 
saw  one  of  Stuart's  police  come  out  and  peer 
up  and  down  the  street  and  over  at  the  shops. 
He  looked  frightened  and  anxious,  and  as  I 
wasn't  taking  chances  on  anything,  I  stepped 
back  into  the  restaurant  and  watched  him 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  229 

through  the  window.  He  waited  until  the 
sentry  had  turned  his  back,  and  started  away 
from  him  on  his  post,  and  then  I  saw  him  drop 
his  sabre  so  that  it  rang  on  the  sidewalk.  He 
was  standing,  1  noticed  then,  directly  under 
the  third  window  from  the  door  of  the  jail. 
That  was  the  window  of  Burke 's  cell.  When  I 
grasped  that  fact  I  got  out  my  gun  and  walked 
to  the  door  of  the  restaurant.  Just  as  I  reached 
it  a  piece  of  paper  shot  out  through  the  bars  of 
Burke's  cell  and  fell  at  the  policeman's  feet, 
and  he  stamped  his  boot  down  on  it  and  looked 
all  around  again  to  see  if  any  one  had  noticed 
him.  I  thought  that  was  my  cue,  and  I  ran 
across  the  street  with  my  gun  pointed,  and 
shouted  to  him  to  give  me  the  paper.  He 
jumped  about  a  foot  when  he  first  saw  me,  but 
he  was  game,  for  he  grabbed  up  the  paper  and 
stuck  it  in  his  mouth  and  began  to  chew  on  it. 
I  was  right  up  on  him  then,  and  I  hit  him  on 
the  chin  with  my  left  fist  and  knocked  him 
down  against  the  wall,  and  dropped  on  him 
with  both  knees  and  choked  him  till  I  made 
him  spit  out  the  paper  —  and  two  teeth," 
MacWilliams  added,  with  a  conscientious  re 
gard  for  details.  "The  sentry  turned  just 
then  and  came  at  me  with  his  bayonet,  but  I 
put  my  finger  to  my  lips,  and  that  surprised 


230  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

him,  so  that  he  did  n't  know  just  what  to  do, 
and  hesitated.  You  see,  I  did  n't  want  Burke 
to  hear  the  row  outside,  so  I  grabbed  my  police 
man  by  the  collar  and  pointed  to  the  jail-door, 
and  the  sentry  ran  back  and  brought  out  Stuart 
and  the  guard.  Stuart  was  pretty  mad  when 
lie  saw  his  policeman  all  bloody.  He  thought 
it  would  prejudice  his  other  men  against  us, 
but  I  explained  out  loud  that  the  man  had  been 
insolent,  and  I  asked  Stuart  to  take  us  both  to 
his  private  room  for  a  hearing,  and,  of  course, 
when  I  told  him  what  had  happened,  he  wanted 
to  punch  the  chap,  too.  We  put  him  ourselves 
into  a  cell  where  he  could  not  communicate 
with  any  one,  and  then  we  read  the  paper. 
Stuart  has  it,"  said  MacWilliams,  pushing 
back  his  chair,  "and  he'll  tell  you  the  rest." 
There  was  a  pause,  in  which  every  one  seemed 
to  take  time  to  breathe,  and  then  a  chorus  of 
questions  and  explanations.  King  lifted  his 
glass  to  MacWilliams,  and  nodded. 

"Well  done,  Condor,"  he  quoted,  smiling. 

"Yes,"  said  Clay,  tapping  the  younger  man 
on  the  shoulder  as  he  passed  him.  "  That 's 
good  work.  Now  show  us  the  paper,  Stuart. " 

Stuart  pulled  the  candles  toward  him,  and 
spread  a  slip  of  paper  on  the  table. 

"Burke  did  this  up  in   one   of  those  paper 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  231 

boxes  for  wax  matches,"  he  explained,  "and 
weighted  it  with  a  twenty-dollar  gold  piece. 
MacWilliams  kept  the  gold  piece,  I  believe." 

"Going  to  use  it  for  a  scarf-pin,"  explained 
MacWilliams,  in  parenthesis.  "  Sort  of  war- 
medal,  like  the  Chief's,"  he  added,  smiling. 

"This  is  in  Spanish,"  Stuart  explained.  "I 
will  translate  it.  It  is  not  addressed  to  any 
one,  and  it  is  not  signed,  but  it  was  evidently 
written  to  Mendoza,  and  we  know  it  is  in 
Burke's  handwriting,  for  we  compared  it  with 
some  notes  of  his  that  we  took  from  him  before 
he  was  locked  up.  He  says,  '  I  cannot  keep 
the  appointment,  as  I  have  been  arrested.' 
The  line  that  follows  here,"  Stuart  explained, 
raising  his  head,  "has  been  scratched  out,  but 
we  spent  some  time  over  it,  and  we  made  out 
that  it  read:  '  It  was  Mr.  Clay  who  recognized 
me,  and  ordered  my  arrest.  He  is  the  best 
man  the  others  have.  Watch  him. '  We  think 
he  rubbed  that  out  through  good  feeling  toward 
Clay.  There  seems  to  be  no  other  reason. 
He  's  a  very  good  sort,  this  old  Burke,  I  think. " 

"  Well,  never  mind  him ;  it  was  very  decent 
of  him,  anyway, "  said  Clay.  "  Go  on.  Get  to 
Hecuba." 

" '  I  cannot  keep  the  appointment,  as  I  have 
been  arrested, '  "  repeated  Stuart.  " '  I  landed 


232  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

the  goods  last  night  in  safety.  I  could  not 
come  in  when  first  signalled,  as  the  wind  and 
tide  were  both  off  shore.  But  we  got  all  the 
stuff  stored  away  by  morning.  Your  agent 
paid  me  in  full  and  got  my  receipt.  Please 
consider  this  as  the  same  thing  —  as  the  equiva 
lent  '  —  it  is  difficult  to  translate  it  exactly," 
commented  Stuart  —  " '  as  the  equivalent  of  the 
receipt  I  was  to  have  given  when  I  made  my 
report  to-night.  I  sent  three  of  your  guards 
away  on  my  own  responsibility,  for  I  think 
more  than  that  number  might  attract  attention 
to  the  spot,  and  they  might  be  seen  from  the 
ore-trains. '  That  is  the  point  of  the  note  for 
us,  of  course."  Stuart  interrupted  himself  to 
say.  "Burke  adds,"  he  went  on,  "c  that  they 
are  to  make  no  effort  to  rescue  him,  as  he  is 
quite  comfortable,  and  is  willing  to  remain  in 
the  carcel  until  they  are  established  in  power. ' ' 

"  Within  sight  of  the  ore-trains !  "  exclaimed 
Clay.  "There  are  no  ore-trains  but  ours.  It 
must  be  along  the  line  of  the  road." 

"MacWilliams  says  he  knows  every  foot  of 
land  along  the  railroad,"  said  Stuart,  "and  he 
is  sure  the  place  Burke  means  is  the  old  for 
tress  on  the  Platta  inlet,  because  - 

"It  is  the  only  place,"  interrupted  MacWil 
liams,  "where  there  is  no  surf.  They  could 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  233 

run  small  boats  up  the  inlet  and  unload  in 
smooth  water  within  twenty  feet  of  the  ram 
parts;  and  another  thing,  that  is  the  only  point 
on  the  line  with  a  wagon  road  running  direct 
from  it  to  the  Capital.  It 's  an  old  road,  and 
has  n't  been  travelled  over  for  years,  but  it 
could  be  used.  No,"  he  added,  as  though  an 
swering  the  doubt  in  Clay's  mind,  "there  is  no 
other  place.  If  I  had  a  map  here  I  could  show 
you  in  a  minute ;  where  the  beach  is  level  there 
is  a  jungle  between  it  and  the  road,  and  where- 
ever  there  is  open  country,  there  is  the  lime 
stone  formation  and  rocks  between  it  and  the 
sea,  where  no  boat  could  touch." 

"But  the  fortress  is  so  conspicuous,"  Clay 
demurred;  "the  nearest  rampart  is  within 
twenty  feet  of  the  road.  Don't  you  remember 
we  measured  it  when  we  thought  of  laying  the 
double  track  ?  " 

"That  is  just  what  Burke  says,"  urged 
Stuart.  "  That  is  the  reason  he  gives  for  leav 
ing  only  three  men  on  guard  —  '  I  think  more 
than  that  number  might  attract  attention  to  the 
spot,  as  they  might  be  seen  from  the  ore- 
trains.  '  " 

"  Have  you  told  any  one  of  this  ?  "  Clay 
asked.  "  What  have  you  done  so  far  ?  " 

"We've  done  nothing,"  said  Stuart.     "We 


234  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

* 

lost  our  nerve  when  we  found  out  how  much  we 
knew,  and  we  decided  we  'd  better  leave  it  to 
you. " 

"Whatever  we  do  must  be  done  at  once," 
said  Clay.  "They  will  come  for  the  arms  to 
night,  most  likely,  and  we  must  be  there  first. 
I  agree  with  you  entirely  about  the  place.  It 
is  only  a  question  now  of  our  being  on  time. 
There  are  two  things  to  do.  The  first  thing  is, 
to  keep  them  from  getting  the  arms,  and  the 
second  is,  if  we  are  lucky,  to  secure  them  for 
ourselves.  If  we  can  pull  it  off  properly,  we 
ought  to  have  those  rifles  in  the  mines  before 
midnight.  If  we  are  hurried  or  surprised,  we 
must  dump  them  off  the  fort  into  the  sea." 
Clay  laughed  and  looked  about  him  at  the  men. 
"We  are  only  following  out  General  Bolivar's 
saying  '  When  you  want  arms  take  them  from 
the  enemy.'  Now,  there  are  three  places  we 
must  cover.  This  house,  first  of  all,"  he  went 
on,  inclining  his  head  quickly  toward  the  two 
sisters,  "  then  the  city,  and  the  mines.  Stuart's 
place,  of  course,  is  at  the  Palace.  King  must 
take  care  of  this  house  and  those  in  it,  and 
MacWilliams  and  Langham  and  I  must  look 
after  the  arms.  We  must  organize  two  parties, 
and  they  had  better  approach  the  fort  from  here 
and  from  the  mines  at  the  same  time.  I  will 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  235 

need  you  to  do  some  telegraphing  for  me,  Mac ; 
and,  King,  I  must  ask  you  for  some  more  men 
from  the  yacht.  How  many  have  you  ?  " 

King  answered  that  there  were  fifteen  men 
still  on  board,  ten  of  whom  would  be  of  service. 
He  added  that  they  were  all  well  equipped  for 
fighting. 

"  I  believe  King 's  a  pirate  in  business  hours," 
Clay  said,  smiling.  "  All  right,  that 's  good. 
Now  go  tell  ten  of  them  to  meet  me  at  the 
round-house  in  half  an  hour.  I  will  get 
MacWilliams  to  telegraph  Kirkland  to  run  an 
engine  and  flat  cars  to  within  a  half  mile  of  the 
fort  on  the  north,  and  we  will  come  up  on  it 
with  the  sailors  and  Ted,  here,  from  the  south. 
You  must  run  the  engine  yourself,  MacWilliams, 
and  perhaps  it  would  be  better,  King,  if  your 
men  joined  us  at  the  foot  of  the  grounds  here 
and  not  at  the  round-house.  None  of  the  work 
men  must  see  our  party  start.  Do  you  agree 
with  me  ? "  he  asked,  turning  to  those  in  the 
group  about  him.  "  Has  anybody  any  criticism 
to  make  ? " 

Stuart  and  King  looked  at  one  another  rue 
fully  and  laughed.  "I  don't  see  what  good  I 
am  doing  in  town,"  protested  Stuart.  "Yes, 
and  I  don't  see  where  I  come  in,  either," 
growled  King,  in  aggrieved  tones.  "These 


236  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

youngsters  can't  do  it  all:  besides  I  ought  to 
have  charge  of  my  own  men. " 

"Mutiny,"  said  Clay,  in  some  perplexity, 
"  rank  mutiny.  Why,  it 's  only  a  picnic. 
There  are  but  three  men  there.  We  don't 
need  sixteen  white  men  to  frighten  off  three 
Olanchians." 

"I  '11  tell  you  what  to  do,"  cried  Hope,  with 
the  air  of  having  discovered  a  plan  which  would 
be  acceptable  to  every  one,  "  let 's  all  go. " 

"Well,  I  certainly  mean  to  go,"  said  Mr. 
Langham,  decidedly.  "  So  some  one  else  must 
stay  here.  Ted,  you  will  have  to  look  after 
your  sisters." 

The  son  and  heir  smiled  upon  his  parent 
with  a  look  of  affectionate  wonder,  and  shook 
his  head  at  him  in  fond  and  pitying  dis 
approval. 

"I  '11  stay,"  said  King.  "I  have  never  seen 
such  ungallant  conduct.  Ladies,"  he  said,  "I 
will  protect  your  lives  and  property,  and  we  '11 
invent  something  exciting  to  do  ourselves,  even 
if  we  have  to  bombard  the  Capital." 

The  men  bade  the  women  good-night,  and 
left  them  with  King  and  Mr.  Langham,  who 
had  been  persuaded  to  remain  overnight,  while 
Stuart  rode  off  to  acquaint  Alvarez  and  General 
Rojas  with  what  was  going  on. 


XI 


THERE  was  no  chance  for  Clay  to  speak  to 
Hope  again,  though  he  felt  the  cruelty  of  hav 
ing  to  leave  her  with  everything  between  them 
in  this  interrupted  state.  But  their  friends 
stood  about  her,  interested  and  excited  over 
this  expedition  of  smuggled  arms,  unconscious 
of  the  great  miracle  that  had  come  into  his 
life  and  of  his  need  to  speak  to  and  to  touch 
the  woman  who  had  wrought  it.  Clay  felt  how 
much  more  binding  than  the  laws  of  life  are 
the  little  social  conventions  that  must  be  ob 
served  at  times,  even  though  the  heart  is  leap 
ing  with  joy  or  racked  with  sorrow.  He  stood 
within  a  few  feet  of  the  woman  he  loved,  want 
ing  to  cry  out  at  her  and  to  tell  her  all  the 
wonderful  things  which  he  had  learned  were 
true  for  the  first  time  that  night,  but  he  was 
forced  instead  to  keep  his  eyes  away  from  her 
face  and  to  laugh  and  answer  questions,  and  at 
the  last  to  go  away  content  with  having  held 


238  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

her  hand  for  an  instant,  and  to  have  heard  her 
say  "good-luck." 

MacWilliams  called  Kirkland  to  the  office  at 
the  other  end  of  the  Company's  wire,  and 
explained  the  situation  to  him.  He  was  in 
structed  to  run  an  engine  and  freight-cars  to  a 
point  a  quarter  of  a  mile  north  of  the  fort,  and 
to  wait  there  until  he  heard  a  locomotive 
whistle  or  pistol  shots,  when  he  was  to  run  on 
to  the  fort  as  quickly  and  as  noiselessly  as 
possible.  He  was  also  directed  to  bring  with 
him  as  many  of  the  American  workmen  as  he 
could  trust  to  keep  silent  concerning  the  events 
of  the  evening.  At  ten  o'clock  MacWilliams 
had  the  steam  up  in  a  locomotive,  and  with  his 
only  passenger-car  in  the  rear,  ran  it  out  of  the 
yard  and  stopped  the  train  at  the  point  nearest 
the  cars  where  ten  of  the  '  Testa's '  crew  were 
Avaiting.  The  sailors  had  no  idea  as  to  where 
they  were  going,  or  what  they  were  to  do,  but 
the  fact  that  they  had  all  been  given  arms  filled 
them  with  satisfaction,  and  they  huddled  to 
gether  at  the  bottom  of  the  car  smoking  and 
whispering,  and  radiant  with  excitement  and 
satisfaction. 

The  train  progressed  cautiously  until  it  was 
within  a  half  mile  below  the  fort,  when  Clay 
stopped  it,  and,  leaving  two  men  on  guard, 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  239 

stepped  off  the  remaining  distance  on  the  ties, 
his  little  band  following  noiselessly  behind 
him  like  a  procession  of  ghosts  in  the  moon 
light.  They  halted  and  listened  from  time  to 
time  as  they  drew  near  the  ruins,  but  there  was 
no  sound  except  the  beating  of  the  waves  on  the 
rocks  and  the  rustling  of  the  sea-breeze  through 
the  vines  and  creepers  about  them. 

Clay  motioned  to  the  men  to  sit  down,  and, 
beckoning  to  MacWilliams,  directed  him  to  go 
on  ahead  and  reconnoitre. 

"If  you  fire  we  will  come  up,"  he  said. 
" Get  back  here  as  soon  as  you  can." 

"Aren't  you  going  to  make  sure  first  that 
Kirkland  is  on  the  other  side  of  the  fort  ?  " 
MacWilliams  whispered. 

Clay  replied  that  he  was  certain  Kirkland 
had  already  arrived.  "He  had  a  shorter  run 
than  ours,  and  he  wired  you  he  was  ready  to 
start  when  we  were,  did  n't  he  ?  "  MacWilliams 
nodded. 

"Well,  then,  he  is  there.  I  can  count  on 
Kirk." 

MacWilliams  pulled  at  his  heavy  boots  and 
hid  them  in  the  bushes,  with  his  helmet  over 
them  to  mark  the  spot.  "  I  feel  as  though  I  was 
going  to  rob  a  bank,"  he  chuckled,  as  he  waved 
his  hand  and  crept  off  into  the  underbrush. 


240  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

For  the  first  few  moments  the  men  who  were 
left  behind  sat  silent,  but  as  the  minutes  wore 
on,  and  Mac  Williams  made  no  sign,  they  grew 
restless,  and  shifted  their  positions,  and  began 
to  whisper  together,  until  Clay  shook  his  head 
at  them,  and  there  was  silence  again  until  one 
of  them,  in  trying  not  to  cough,  almost 
strangled,  and  the  others  tittered  and  those 
nearest  pummelled  him  on  the  back. 

Clay  pulled  out  his  revolver,  and  after  spin 
ning  the  cylinder  under  his  finger-nail,  put  it 
back  in  its  holder  again,  and  the  men,  taking 
this  as  an  encouraging  promise  of  immediate 
action,  began  to  examine  their  weapons  again 
for  the  twentieth  time,  and  there  was  a  chorus 
of  short,  muffled  clicks  as  triggers  were  drawn 
back  and  cautiously  lowered  and  levers  shot 
into  place  and  caught  again. 

One  of  the  men  farthest  down  the  track 
raised  his  arm,  and  all  turned  and  half  rose  as 
they  saw  MacWilliams  coming  toward  them  on 
a  run,  leaping  noiselessly  in  his  stocking  feet 
from  tie  to  tie.  He  dropped  on  his  knees 
between  Clay  and  Langham. 

"The  guns  are  there  all  right,"  he  whispered, 
panting,  "  and  there  are  only  three  men  guard 
ing  them.  They  are  all  sitting  on  the  beach 
smoking.  I  hustled  around  the  fort  and  came 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  241 

across  the  whole  outfit  in  the  second  gallery. 
It  looks  like  a  row  of  coffins,  ten  coffins  and 
about  twenty  little  boxes  and  kegs.  I  'm  sure 
that  means  they  are  coming  for  them  to-night. 
They  ?ve  not  tried  to  hide  them  nor  to  cover 
them  up.  All  we  've  got  to  do  is  to  walk  down 
on  the  guards  and  tell  them  to  throw  up  their 
hands.  It's  too  easy." 

Clay  jumped  to  his  feet.  "Come  on,"  he 
said. 

"  Wait  till  I  get  my  boots  on  first, "  begged 
MacWilliams.  "I  wouldn't  go  over  those 
cinders  again  in  my  bare  feet  for  all  the  buried 
treasure  in  the  Spanish  Main.  You  can  make 
all  the  noise  you  want;  the  waves  will  drown 
it." 

With  MacWilliams  to  show  them  the  way, 
the  men  scrambled  up  the  outer  wall  of  the  fort 
and  crossed  the  moss-covered  ramparts  at  the 
run.  Below  them,  on  the  sandy  beach,  were 
three  men  sitting  around  a  driftwood  fire  that 
had  sunk  to  a  few  hot  ashes.  Clay  nodded  to 
MacWilliams.  "  You  and  Ted  can  have  them," 
he  said.  "  Go  with  him,  Langham. " 

The  sailors  levelled  their  rifles  at  the  three 

lonely  figures  on  the  beach  as  the  two  boys 

slipped  down  the  wall  and  fell  on  their  hands 

and  feet  in  the  sand  below,  and  then  crawled  up 

16 


242  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

to  within  a  few  feet  of  where  the  men  were 
sitting. 

As  MacWilliams  raised  his  revolver  one  of 
the  three,  who  was  cooking  something  over  the 
fire,  raised  his  head  and  with  a  yell  of  warning 
flung  himself  toward  his  rifle. 

"  Up  with  your  hands  !  "  MacWilliams  shouted 
in  Spanish,  and  Langham,  running  in,  seized  the 
nearest  sentry  by  the  neck  and  shoved  his  face 
down  between  his  knees  into  the  sand. 

There  was  a  great  rattle  of  falling  stones  and 
of  breaking  vines  as  the  sailors  tumbled  down 
the  side  of  the  fort,  and  in  a  half  minute's  time 
the  three  sentries  were  looking  with  angry, 
frightened  eyes  at  the  circle  of  armed  men 
around  them. 

"Now  gag  them,"  said  Clay.  "Does  any 
body  here  know  how  to  gag  a  man  ?  "  he  asked. 
"  I  don't." 

"  Better  make  him  tell  what  he  knows  first," 
suggested  Langham. 

But  the  Spaniards  were  too  terrified  at  what 
they  had  done,  or  at  what  they  had  failed  to  do, 
to  further  commit  themselves. 

"Tie  us  and  gag  us,"  one  of  them  begged. 
"  Let  them  find  us  so.  It  is  the  kindest  thing 
you  can  do  for  us." 

"  Thank  you,  sir,"  said  Clay.     «  That  is  what 


LANGHAM   SHOVED  HIS   FACE   DOWN  BETWEEN  HIS   KNEES 
INTO   THE    SAND. 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  243 

I  wanted  to  know.  They  are  coming  to-night, 
then.  We  must  hurry." 

The  three  sentries  were  bound  and  hidden  at 
the  base  of  the  wall,  with  a  sailor  to  watch  them. 
He  was  a  young  man  with  a  high  sense  of  the 
importance  of  his  duties,  and  he  enlivened  the 
prisoners  by  poking  them  in  the  ribs  whenever 
they  moved. 

Clay  deemed  it  impossible  to  signal  Kirkland 
as  they  had  arranged  to  do,  as  they  could  not 
know  now  how  near  those  who  were  coming  for 
the  arms  might  be.  So  Mac  Williams  was  sent 
back  for  his  engine,  and  a  few  minutes  later 
they  heard  it  rumble  heavily  past  the  fort  on 
its  way  to  bring  up  Kirkland  and  the  flat  cars. 
Clay  explored  the  lower  chambers  of  the  fort 
and  found  the  boxes  as  MacWilliams  had  de 
scribed  them.  Ten  men,  with  some  effort,  could 
lift  and  carry  the  larger  coffin-shaped  boxes,  and 
Clay  guessed  that,  granting  their  contents  to  be 
rifles,  there  must  be  a  hundred  pieces  in  each 
box,  and  that  there  were  a  thousand  rifles  in  all. 

They  had  moved  half  of  the  boxes  to  the  side 
of  the  track  when  the  train  of  flat  cars  and  the 
two  engines  came  crawling  and  twisting  toward 
them,  between  the  walls  of  the  jungle,  like  a 
great  serpent,  with  no  light  about  it  but  the  glow 
from  the  hot  ashes  as  they  fell  between  the  rails. 


244  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

Thirty  men,  equally  divided  between  Irish  and 
negroes,  fell  off  the  flat  cars  before  the  wheels 
had  ceased  to  revolve,  and,  without  a  word  of 
direction,  began  loading  the  heavy  boxes  on  the 
train  and  passing  the  kegs  of  cartridges  from 
hand  to  hand  and  shoulder  to  shoulder.  The 
sailors  spread  out  up  the  road  that  led  to  the 
Capital  to  give  warning  in  case  the  enemy  ap 
proached,  but  they  were  recalled  before  they 
had  reason  to  give  an  alarm,  and  in  a  half 
hour  Burke's  entire  shipment  of  arms  was  on 
the  ore-cars,  the  men  who  were  to  have  guarded 
them  were  prisoners  in  the  cab  of  the  engine, 
and  both  trains  were  rushing  at  full  speed 
toward  the  mines.  On  arriving  there  Kirkland's 
train  was  switched  to  the  siding  that  led  to  the 
magazine  in  which  was  stored  the  rackarock  and 
dynamite  used  in  the  blasting.  By  midnight  all 
of  the  boxes  were  safely  under  lock  in  the  zinc 
building,  and  the  number  of  the  men  who  always 
guarded  the  place  for  fear  of  fire  or  accident 
was  doubled,  while  a  reserve,  composed  of  Kirk- 
land's  thirty  picked  men,  were  hidden  in  the 
surrounding  houses  and  engine-sheds. 

Before  Clay  left  he  had  one  of  the  boxes 
broken  open,  and  found  that  it  held  a  hundred 
Mannlicher  rifles. 

"Good!"   he   said.     "I'd   give   a  thousand 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  245 

dollars  in  gold  if  I  could  bring  Mendoza  out  here 
and  show  him  his  own  men  armed  with  his  own 
Mannlichers  and  dying  for  a  shot  at  him.  How 
old  Burke  will  enjoy  this  when  he  hears  of  it ! " 

The  party  from  the  Palms  returned  to  their 
engine  after  many  promises  of  reward  to  the 
men  for  their  work  "  over-time,"  and  were  soon 
flying  back  with  their  hearts  as  light  as  the 
smoke  above  them. 

Mac  Williams  slackened  speed  as  they  neared 
the  fort,  and  moved  up  cautiously  on  the  scene 
of  their  recent  victory,  but  a  warning  cry  from 
Clay  made  him  bring  his  engine  to  a  sharp  stop. 
Many  lights  were  flashing  over  the  ruins  and 
they  could  see  in  their  reflection  the  figures  of 
men  running  over  the  same  walls  on  which  the 
lizards  had  basked  in  undisturbed  peace  for 
years. 

"  They  look  like  a  swarm  of  hornets  after 
some  one  has  chucked  a  stone  through  their 
nest,"  laughed  MacWilliams.  "  What  shall  we 
do  now  ?  Go  back,  or  wait  here,  or  run  the 
blockade?" 

"  Oh,  ride  them  out,"  said  Langham ;  "  the 
family 's  anxious,  and  I  want  to  tell  them 
what's  happened.  Go  ahead." 

Clay  turned  to  the  sailors  in  the  car  behind 
them.  "  Lie  down,  men,"  he  said.  "  And  don't 


246  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

any  of  you  fire  unless  I  tell  you  to.  Let  them 
do  all  the  shooting.  This  is  n't  our  fight  yet, 
and,  besides,  they  can't  hit  a  locomotive  stand 
ing  still,  certainly  not  when  it 's  going  at  full 
speed." 

"  Suppose  they  've  torn  the  track  up  ? "  said 
MacWilliams,  grinning.  "  We  'd  look  sort  of 
silly  flying  through  the  air." 

"  Oh,  they  've  not  sense  enough  to  think  of 
that,"  said  Clay.  "  Besides,  they  don't  know  it 
was  we  who  took  their  arms  away,  yet." 

MacWilliams  opened  the  throttle  gently,  and 
the  train  moved  slowly  forward,  gaining  speed 
at  each  revolution  of  the  wheels. 

As  the  noise  of  its  approach  beat  louder  and 
louder  on  the  air,  a  yell  of  disappointed  rage 
and  execration  rose  into  the  night  from  the  fort, 
and  a  mass  of  soldiers  swarmed  upon  the  track, 
leaping  up  and  down  and  shaking  the  rifles  in 
their  hands. 

"  That  sounds  a  little  as  though  they  thought 
we  had  something  to  do  with  it,"  said  MacWil 
liams,  grimly.  "  If  they  don't  look  out  some 
one  will  get  hurt." 

There  was  a  flash  of  fire  from  where  the  mass 
of  men  stood,  followed  by  a  dozen  more  flashes, 
and  the  bullets  rattled  on  the  smokestack  and 
upon  the  boiler  of  the  engine. 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  247 

"Low  bridge,"  cried  Mac  Williams,  with  a 
fierce  chuckle.  "  Now,  watch  her ! " 

He  threw  open  the  throttle  as  far  as  it  would 
go,  and  the  engine  answered  to  his  touch  like  a 
race-horse  to  the  whip.  It  seemed  to  spring 
from  the  track  into  the  air.  It  quivered  and 
shook  like  a  live  tiling,  and  as  it  shot  in  be 
tween  the  soldiers  they  fell  back  on  either  side, 
and  MacWilliams  leaned  far  out  of  his  cab-win 
dow  shaking  his  fist  at  them. 

"You  got  left,  didn't  you?"  he  shouted. 
"  Thank  you  for  the  Mannlichers." 

As  the  locomotive  rushed  out  of  the  jungle, 
and  passed  the  point  on  the  road  nearest  to  the 
Palms,  MacWilliams  loosened  three  long  tri 
umphant  shrieks  from  his  whistle  and  the  sail 
ors  stood  up  and  cheered. 

"  Let  them  shout,"  cried  Clay.  "  Everybody 
will  have  to  know  now.  It 's  begun  at  last,"  he 
said,  with  a  laugh  of  relief. 

"And  we  took  the  first  trick,"  said  MacWil 
liams,  as  he  ran  his  engine  slowly  into  the  rail 
road  yard. 

The  whistles  of  the  engine  and  the  shouts  of 
the  sailors  had  carried  far  through  the  silence 
of  the  night,  and  as  the  men  came  hurrying 
across  the  lawn  to  the  Palms,  they  saw  all  of 
those  who  had  been  left  behind  grouped  on 
the  veranda  awaitino;  them. 


248  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

"  Do  the  conquering  heroes  come  ? "  shouted 
King. 

"  They  do,"  young  Langham  cried,  joyously. 
"  We  Ve  got  all  their  arms,  and  they  shot  at  us. 
We  Ve  been  under  fire  !  " 

"  Are  any  of  you  hurt  ? "  asked  Miss  Lang- 
ham,  anxiously,  as  she  and  the  others  hurried 
down  the  steps  to  welcome  them,  while  those  of 
the  '  Vesta's '  crew  who  had  been  left  behind 
looked  at  their  comrades  with  envy. 

"  We  have  been  so  frightened  and  anxious 
about  you,"  said  Miss  Langham. 

Hope  held  out  her  hand  to  Clay  and  greeted 
him  with  a  quiet,  happy  smile,  that  was  in  con 
trast  to  the  excitement  and  confusion  that 
reigned  about  them. 

"  I  knew  you  would  come  back  safely,"  she 
said.  And  the  pressure  of  her  hand  seemed  to 
add  "  to  me." 


XII 

THE  day  of  the  review  rose  clear  and  warm, 
tempered  by  a  light  breeze  from  the  sea.  As  it 
was  a  fete  day,  the  harbor  wore  an  air  of 
unwonted  inactivity ;  no  lighters  passed  heavily 
from  the  levees  to  the  merchantmen  at  anchor, 
and  the  warehouses  along  the  wharves  were 
closed  and  deserted.  A  thin  line  of  smoke 
from  the  funnels  of  the  '  Vesta '  showed  that  her 
fires  were  burning,  and  the  fact  that  she  rode 
on  a  single  anchor  chain  seemed  to  promise 
that  at  any  moment  she  might  slip  away  to  sea. 

As  Clay  was  finishing  his  coffee  two  notes 
were  brought  to  him  from  messengers  who  had 
ridden  out  that  morning,  and  who  sat  in  their 
saddles  looking  at  the  armed  force  around  the 
office  with  amused  intelligence. 

One  note  was  from  Mendoza,  and  said  he  had 
decided  not  to  call  out  the  regiment  at  the 
mines,  as  he  feared  their  long  absence  from 
drill  would  make  them  compare  unfavorably 
with  their  comrades,  and  do  him  more  harm 
than  credit.  "  He  is  afraid  of  them  since  last 


250  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

night,"  was  Clay's  comment,  as  he  passed  the 
note  on  to  MacWilliams.  "  He  's  quite  right, 
they  might  do  him  harm." 

The  second  note  was  from  Stuart.  He  said 
the  city  was  already  wide  awake  and  restless, 
but  whether  this  was  due  to  the  fact  that  it  was 
a  fete  day,  or  to  some  other  cause  which  would 
disclose  itself  later,  he  could  not  tell.  Madame 
Alvarez,  the  afternoon  before,  while  riding  in 
the  Alameda,  had  been  insulted  by  a  group  of 
men  around  a  cafe',  who  had  risen  and  shouted 
after  her,  one  of  them  throwing  a  wine-glass 
into  her  lap  as  she  rode  past.  His  troopers 
had  charged  the  sidewalk  and  carried  off  six  of 
the  men  to  the  carcel.  He  and  Rojas  had  urged 
the  President  to  make  every  preparation  for 
immediate  flight,  to  have  the  horses  put  to  his 
travelling  carriage,  and  had  warned  him  when 
at  the  review  to  take  up  his  position  at  the 
point  nearest  to  his  own  body-guard,  and  as  far 
as  possible  from  the  troops  led  by  Mendoza. 
Stuart  added  that  he  had  absolute  confidence 
in  the  former.  The  policeman  who  had  at 
tempted  to  carry  Burke's  note  to  Mendoza  had 
confessed  that  he  was  the  only  traitor  in  the 
camp,  and  that  he  had  tried  to  work  on  his 
comrades  without  success.  Stuart  begged  Clay 
to  join  him  as  quickly  as  possible.  Clay  went 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  251 

up  the  hill  to  the  Palms,  and  after  consulting 
with  Mr.  Langham,  dictated  an  order  to  Kirk- 
land,  instructing  him  to  call  the  men  together 
and  to  point  out  to  them  how  much  better  their 
condition  had  been  since  they  had  entered  the 
mines,  and  to  promise  them  an  increase  of 
wages  if  they  remained  faithful  to  Mr.  Lang- 
ham's  interests,  and  a  small  pension  to  any 
one  who  might  be  injured  "from  any  cause 
whatsoever"  while  serving  him. 

"Tell  them,  if  they  are  loyal,  they  can  live 
in  their  shacks  rent  free  hereafter,"  wrote 
Clay.  "They  are  always  asking  for  that.  It  's 
a  cheap  generosity,"  he  added  aloud  to  Mr. 
Langham,  "because  we've  never  been  able  to 
collect  rent  from  any  of  them  yet." 

At  noon  young  Langham  ordered  the  best 
three  horses  in  the  stables  to  be  brought  to  the 
door  of  the  Palms  for  Clay,  MacWilliams,  and 
himself.  Clay's  last  words  to  King  were  to 
have  the  yacht  in  readiness  to  put  to  sea  when 
he  telephoned  him  to  do  so,  and  he  advised  the 
women  to  have  their  dresses  and  more  valu 
able  possessions  packed  ready  to  be  taken  on 
board. 

"Don't  you  think  I  might  see  the  review  if 
I  went  on  horseback  ?  "  Hope  asked.  "  I  could 
get  away  then,  if  there  should  be  any  trouble." 


252  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

Clay  answered  with  a  look  of  such  alarm 
and  surprise  that  Hope  laughed. 

"See  the  review!  I  should  say  not,"  he 
exclaimed.  "I  don't  even  want  Ted  to  be 
there." 

"Oh,  that's  always  the  way,"  said  Hope,  "I 
miss  everything.  I  think  I  '11  come,  however, 
anyhow.  The  servants  are  all  going,  and  I  '11 
go  with  them  disguised  in  a  turban. " 

As  the  men  neared  Valencia,  Clay  turned 
in  his  saddle,  and  asked  Langham  if  he 
thought  his  sister  would  really  venture  into 
the  town. 

"  She  'd  better  not  let  me  catch  her,  if  she 
does,"  the  fond  brother  replied. 

The  reviewing  party  left  the  Government 
Palace  for  the  Alameda  at  three  o'clock,  Presi 
dent  Alvarez  riding  on  horseback  in  advance, 
and  Madame  Alvarez  sitting  in  the  State  car 
riage  with  one  of  her  attendants,  and  with 
Stuart's  troopers  gathered  so  closely  about  her 
that  the  men's  boots  scraped  against  the  wheels, 
and  their  numbers  hid  her  almost  entirely  from 
sight. 

The  great  square  in  which  the  evolutions 
were  to  take  place  was  lined  on  its  four  sides 
by  the  carriages  of  the  wealthy  Olancheans, 
except  at  the  two  gates,  where  there  was  a  wide 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  253 

space  left  open  to  admit  the  soldiers.  The 
branches  of  the  trees  on  the  edges  of  the  bare 
parade  ground  were  black  with  men  and  boys, 
and  the  balconies  and  roofs  of  the  houses  that 
faced  it  were  gay  with  streamers  and  flags,  and 
alive  with  women  wrapped  for  the  occasion  in 
their  colored  shawls.  Seated  on  the  grass  be 
tween  the  carriages,  or  surging  up  and  down 
behind  them,  were  thousands  of  people,  each 
hurrying  to  gain  a  better  place  of  vantage,  or 
striving  to  hold  the  one  he  had,  and  forming  a 
restless,  turbulent  audience  in  which  all  indi 
vidual  cries  were  lost  in  a  great  murmur  of 
laughter,  and  calls,  and  cheers.  The  mass 
knit  together,  and  pressed  forward  as  the 
President's  band  swung  jauntily  into  the  square 
and  halted  in  one  corner,  and  a  shout  of  expec 
tancy  went  up  from  the  trees  and  housetops  as 
the  President's  body-guard  entered  at  the  lower 
gate,  and  the  broken  place  in  its  ranks  showed 
that  it  was  escorting  the  State  carriage.  The 
troopers  fell  back  on  two  sides,  and  the  car 
riage,  with  the  President  riding  at  its  head, 
passed  on,  and  took  up  a  position  in  front  of 
the  other  carriages,  and  close  to  one  of  the 
sides  of  the  hollow  square.  At  Stuart's  orders 
Clay,  MacWilliams,  and  Langham  had  pushed 
their  horses  into  the  rear  rank  of  cavalry,  and 


254  SOLDIERS    OF  FORTUNE 

remained  wedged  between  the  troopers  within 
twenty  feet  of  where  Madame  Alvarez  was  sit 
ting.  She  was  very  white,  and  the  powder  on 
her  face  gave  her  an  added  and  unnatural  pal 
lor.  As  the  people  cheered  her  husband  and 
herself  she  raised  her  head  slightly  and  seemed 
to  be  trying  to  catch  any  sound  of  dissent  in 
their  greeting,  or  some  possible  undercurrent 
of  disfavor,  but  the  welcome  appeared  to  be 
both  genuine  and  hearty,  until  a  second  shout 
smothered  it  completely  as  the  figure  of  old 
General  Rojas,  the  Vice-President,  and  the 
most  dearly  loved  by  the  common  people,  came 
through  the  gate  at  the  head  of  his  regiment. 
There  was  such  greeting  for  him  that  the  wel 
come  to  the  President  seemed  mean  in  compari 
son,  and  it  was  with  an  embarrassment  which 
both  felt  that  the  two  men  drew  near  together, 
and  each  leaned  from  his  saddle  to  grasp  the 
other's  hand.  Madame  Alvarez  sank  back 
rigidly  on  her  cushions,  and  her  eyes  flashed 
with  anticipation  and  excitement.  She  drew 
her  mantilla  a  little  closer  about  her  shoulders, 
with  a  nervous  shudder  as  though  she  were 
cold.  Suddenly  the  look  of  anxiety  in  her  eyes 
changed  to  one  of  annoyance,  and  she  beckoned 
Clay  imperiously  to  the  side  of  the  carriage. 
"Look,"  she  said,  pointing  across  the  square. 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  255 

"  If  I  am  not  mistaken  that  is  Miss  Langham, 
Miss  Hope.  The  one  on  the  black  horse  —  it 
must  be  she,  for  none  of  the  native  ladies  ride. 
It  is  not  safe  for  her  to  be  here  alone.  Go," 
she  commanded,  "  bring  her  here  to  me.  Put 
her  next  to  the  carriage,  or  perhaps  she  will 
be  safer  with  you  among  the  troopers." 

Clay  had  recognized  Hope  before  Madame 
Alvarez  had  finished  speaking,  and  dashed  off 
at  a  gallop,  skirting  the  line  of  carriages. 
Hope  had  stopped  her  horse  beside  a  victoria, 
and  was  talking  to  the  native  women  who  occu 
pied  it,  and  who  were  scandalized  at  her 
appearance  in  a  public  place  with  no  one  but  a 
groom  to  attend  her. 

"  Why,  it 's  the  same  thing  as  a  polo  match," 
protested  Hope,  as  Clay  pulled  up  angrily 
beside  the  victoria.  "I  always  ride  over  to 
polo  alone  at  Newport,  at  least  with  James," 
she  added,  nodding  her  head  toward  the 
servant. 

The  man  approached  Clay  and  touched  his 
hat  apologetically,  "Miss  Hope  would  come, 
sir,"  he  said,  "  and  I  thought  I  'd  better  be  with 
her  than  to  go  off  and  tell  Mr.  Langham,  sir. 
I  knew  she  would  n't  wait  for  me. " 

"I  asked  you  not  to  come,"  Clay  said  to 
Hope,  in  a  low  voice. 


256  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

"I  wanted  to  know  the  worst  at  once,"  she 
answered.  "  I  was  anxious  about  Ted  —  and 
you." 

"Well,  it  can't  be  helped  now,"  he  said. 
"  Come,  we  must  hurry,  here  is  our  friend,  the 
enemy."  He  bowed  to  their  acquaintances  in 
the  victoria  and  they  trotted  briskly  off  to  the 
side  of  the  President's  carriage,  just  as  a  yell 
arose  from  the  crowd  that  made  all  the  other 
shouts  which  had  preceded  it  sound  like  the 
cheers  of  children  at  recess. 

"It  reminds  me  of  a  football  match,"  whis 
pered  young  Langham,  excitedly,  "when  the 
teams  run  on  the  field.  Look  at  Alvarez  and 
Rojas  watching  Mendoza." 

Mendoza  advanced  at  the  front  of  his  three 
troops  of  cavalry,  looking  neither  to  the  left 
nor  right,  and  by  no  sign  acknowledging  the 
fierce  uproarious  greeting  of  the  people.  Close 
behind  him  came  his  chosen  band  of  cowboys 
and  ruffians.  They  were  the  best  equipped  and 
least  disciplined  soldiers  in  the  army,  and 
were,  to  the  great  relief  of  the  people,  seldom 
seen  in  the  city,  but  were  kept  moving  in  the 
mountain  passes  and  along  the  coast  line,  on 
the  lookout  for  smugglers  with  whom  they  were 
on  the  most  friendly  terms.  They  were  a 
picturesque  body  of  blackguards,  in  their  high- 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  257 

topped  boots  and  silver-tipped  sombreros  and 
heavy,  gaudy  saddles,  but  the  shout  that  had 
gone  up  at  their  advance  was  due  as  much  to 
the  fear  they  inspired  as  to  any  great  love  for 
them  or  their  chief. 

"  Now  all  the  chessmen  are  on  the  board,  and 
the  game  can  begin,"  said  Clay.  "It 's  like  the 
scene  in  the  play,  where  each  man  has  his 
sword  at  another  man's  throat  and  no  one  dares 
make  the  first  move. "  He  smiled  as  he  noted, 
with  the  eye  of  one  who  had  seen  continental 
troops  in  action,  the  shuffling  steps  and  slovenly 
carriage  of  the  half-grown  soldiers  that  followed 
Mendoza's  cavalry  at  a  quick  step.  Stuart's 
picked  men,  over  whom  he  had  spent  many  hot 
and  weary  hours,  looked  like  a  troop  of  Life 
Guardsmen  in  comparison.  Clay  noted  their 
superiority,  but  he  also  saw  that  in  numbers 
they  were  most  woefully  at  a  disadvantage. 

It  was  a  brilliant  scene  for  so  modest  a  capi 
tal.  The  sun  flashed  on  the  trappings  of  the 
soldiers,  on  the  lacquer  and  polished  metal 
work  of  the  carriages ;  and  the  Parisian  gowns 
of  their  occupants  and  the  fluttering  flags  and 
banners  filled  the  air  with  color  and  movement, 
while  back  of  all,  framing  the  parade  ground 
with  a  band  of  black,  was  the  restless  mob  of 
people  applauding  the  evolutions,  and  cheering 
17 


258  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

for  their  favorites,  Alvarez,  Mendoza,  and 
Rojas,  moved  by  an  excitement  that  was  in 
disturbing  contrast  to  the  easy  good-nature  of 
their  usual  manner. 

The  marching  and  countermarching  of  the 
troops  had  continued  with  spirit  for  some  time, 
and  there  was  a  halt  in  the  evolutions  which 
left  the  field  vacant,  except  for  the  presence  of 
Mendoza's  cavalrymen,  who  were  moving  at  a 
walk  along  one  side  of  the  quadrangle.  Alvarez 
and  Vice-President  Rojas,  with  Stuart,  as  an 
adjutant  at  their  side,  were  sitting  their  horses 
within  some  fifty  yards  of  the  State  carriage 
and  the  body-guard.  Alvarez  made  a  conspicu 
ous  contrast  in  his  black  coat  and  high  hat  to 
the  brilliant  greens  and  reds  of  his  generals' 
uniforms,  but  he  sat  his  saddle  as  well  as  either 
of  the  others,  and  his  white  hair,  white  imperial 
and  mustache,  and  the  dignity  of  his  bearing 
distinguished  him  above  them  both.  Little 
Stuart,  sitting  at  his  side,  with  his  blue  eyes 
glaring  from  under  his  white  helmet  and  his 
face  burned  to  almost  as  red  a  tint  as  his  curly 
hair,  looked  like  a  fierce  little  bull-dog  in  com 
parison.  None  of  the  three  men  spoke  as  they 
sat  motionless  and  quite  alone  waiting  for  the 
next  movement  of  the  troops. 

It  proved  to  be  one  of  moment.     Even  before 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  259 

Mendoza  had  ridden  toward  them  with  his 
sword  at  salute,  Clay  gave  an  exclamation  of 
enlightenment  and  concern.  He  saw  that  the 
men  who  were  believed  to  be  devoted  to  Rojas, 
had  been  halted  and  left  standing  at  the  farthest 
corner  of  the  plaza,  nearly  two  hundred  yards 
from  where  the  President  had  taken  his  place, 
that  Mendoza' s  infantry  surrounded  them  on 
every  side,  and  that  Mendoza's  cowboys,  who 
had  been  walking  their  horses,  had  wheeled  and 
were  coming  up  with  an  increasing  momentum, 
a  flying  mass  of  horses  and  men  directed 
straight  at  the  President  himself. 

Mendoza  galloped  up  to  Alvarez  with  his 
sword  still  in  salute.  His  eyes  were  burning 
with  excitement  and  with  the  light  of  success. 
No  one  but  Stuart  and  Rojas  heard  his  words ; 
to  the  spectators  and  to  the  army  he  appeared 
as  though  he  was,  in  his  capacity  of  Commander- 
in-Chief,  delivering  some  brief  report,  or  asking 
for  instructions. 

"  Dr.  Alvarez,"  he  said,  "  as  the  head  of  the 
army  I  arrest  you  for  high  treason ;  you  have 
plotted  to  place  yourself  in  office  without  popu 
lar  election.  You  are  also  accused  of  large 
thefts  of  public  funds.  I  must  ask  you  to  ride 
with  me  to  the  military  prison.  General  Rojas, 
I  regret  that  as  an  accomplice  of  the  Presi- 


260  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

dent's,  you  must  come  with  us  also.  I  will  ex 
plain  my  action  to  the  people  when  you  are  safe 
in  prison,  and  I  will  proclaim  martial  law.  If 
your  troops  attempt  to  interfere,  my  men  have 
orders  to  fire  on  them  and  you." 

Stuart  did  not  wait  for  his  sentence.  He  had 
heard  the  heavy  heat  of  the  cavalry  coming  up 
on  them  at  a  trot.  He  saw  the  ranks  open  and 
two  men  catch  at  each  bridle  rein  of  both  Al 
varez  and  Rojas  and  drag  them  on  with  them, 
buried  in  the  crush  of  horses  about  them,  and 
swept  forward  by  the  weight  and  impetus  of  the 
moving  mass  behind.  Stuart  dashed  off  to  the 
State  carriage  and  seized  the  nearest  of  the  hor 
ses  by  the  bridle,  "  To  the  Palace  !  "  he  shouted 
to  his  men.  "  Shoot  any  one  who  tries  to  stop 
you.  Forward,  at  a  gallop,"  he  commanded. 

The  populace  had  not  discovered  what  had 
occurred  until  it  was  finished.  The  coup  d'etat 
had  been  long  considered  and  the  manner  in 
which  it  was  to  be  carried  out  carefully  planned. 
The  cavalry  had  swept  across  the  parade  ground 
and  up  the  street  before  the  people  saw  that 
they  carried  Rojas  and  Alvarez  with  them.  The 
regiment  commanded  by  Rojas  found  itself  hem 
med  in  before  and  behind  by  Mendoza's  two 
regiments.  They  were  greatly  outnumbered, 
but  they  fired  a  scattering  shot,  and  following 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  261 

their  captured  leader,  broke  through  the  line 
around  them  and  pursued  the  cavalry  toward  the 
military  prison. 

It  was  impossible  to  tell  in  the  uproar  which 
followed  how  many  or  how  few  had  been  parties 
to  the  plot.  The  mob,  shrieking  and  shouting 
and  leaping  in  the  air,  swarmed  across  the  pa 
rade  ground,  and  from  a  dozen  different  points 
men  rose  above  the  heads  of  the  people  and  ha 
rangued  them  in  violent  speeches.  And  while 
some  of  the  soldiers  and  the  citizens  gathered 
anxiously  about  these  orators,  others  ran  through 
the  city  calling  for  the  rescue  of  the  President, 
for  an  attack  on  the  palace,  and  shrieking 
"  Long  live  the  Government!"  and  "Long  live 
the  Revolution ! "  The  State  carriage  raced 
through  the  narrow  streets  with  its  body-guard 
galloping  around  it,  sweeping  down  in  its  rush 
stray  pedestrians,  and  scattering  the  chairs  and 
tables  in  front  of  the  cafe's.  As  it  dashed  up 
the  long  avenue  of  the  palace,  Stuart  called  his 
men  back  and  ordered  them  to  shut  and  barri 
cade  the  great  iron  gates  and  to  guard  them 
against  the  coming  of  the  mob,  while  Mac  Wil 
liams  and  young  Langham  pulled  open  the  car 
riage  door  and  assisted  the  President's  wife  and 
her  terrified  companion  to  alight.  Madame 
Alvarez  was  trembling  with  excitement  as  she 


262  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

leaned  on  Langham's  arm,  but  she  showed  no 
signs  of  fear  in  her  face  or  in  her  manner. 

"  Mr.  Clay  has  gone  to  bring  your  travel 
ling  carriage  to  the  rear  door,"  Langham  said. 
"  Stuart  tells  us  it  is  harnessed  and  ready.  You 
will  hurry,  please,  and  get  whatever  you  need 
to  carry  with  you.  We  will  see  you  safely  to 
the  coast." 

As  they  entered  the  hall,  and  were  ascending 
the  great  marble  stairway,  Hope  and  her  groom, 
who  had  followed  in  the  rear  of  the  cavalry, 
came  running  to  meet  them.  "  1  got  in  by  the 
back  way,"  Hope  explained.  "  The  streets  there 
are  all  deserted.  How  can  I  help  you?"  she 
asked,  eagerly. 

"  By  leaving  me,"  cried  the  older  woman. 
"  Good  God,  child,  have  I  not  enough  to  answer 
for  without  dragging  you  into  this  ?  Go  home 
at  once  through  the  botanical  garden,  and  then 
by  way  of  the  wharves.  That  part  of  the  city 
is  still  empty." 

"  Where  are  your  servants  ;  why  are  they  not 
here  ? "  Hope  demanded  without  heeding  her. 
The  palace  was  strangely  empty ;  no  footsteps 
came  running  to  greet  them,,  no  doors  opened 
or  shut  as  they  hurried  to  Madame  Alvarez's 
apartments.  The  servants  of  the  household  had 
fled  at  the  first  sound  of  the  uproar  in  the  city, 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  263 

and  the  dresses  and  ornaments  scattered  on  the 
floor  told  that  they  had  not  gone  empty-handed. 
The  woman  who  had  accompanied  Madame  Al 
varez  to  the  review  sank  weeping  on  the  bed, 
and  then,  as  the  shouts  grew  suddenly  louder 
and  more  near,  ran  to  hide  herself  in  the  upper 
stories  of  the  house.  Hope  crossed  to  the  win 
dow  and  saw  a  great  mob  of  soldiers  and  citizens 
sweep  around  the  corner  and  throw  themselves 
against  the  iron  fence  of  the  palace.  "  You  will 
have  to  hurry,"  she  said.  "  Remember,  you  are 
risking  the  lives  of  those  boys  by  your  delay." 

There  was  a  large  bed  in  the  room,  and  Ma 
dame  Alvarez  had  pulled  it  forward  and  was 
bending  over  a  safe  that  had  opened  in  the  wall, 
and  which  had  been  hidden  by  the  head-board  of 
the  bed.  She  held  up  a  bundle  of  papers  in  her 
hand,  wrapped  in  a  leather  portfolio.  "  Do  you 
see  these  ?"  she  cried,  "  they  are  drafts  for  five 
millions  of  dollars.  She  tossed  them  back  into 
the  safe  and  swung  the  door  shut. 

"  You  are  a  witness.  I  do  not  take  them," 
she  said. 

"I  don't  understand,"  Hope  answered,  " but 
hurry.  Have  you  everything  you  want  —  have 
you  your  jewels  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  the  woman  answered,  as  she  rose  to 
her  feet,  "  they  are  mine." 


264  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

A  yell  more  loud  and  terrible  than  any  that 
had  gone  before  rose  from  the  garden  below, 
and  there  was  the  sound  of  iron  beating  against 
iron,  and  cries  of  rage  and  execration  from  a 
great  multitude. 

"  I  will  not  go!"  the  Spanish  woman  cried, 
suddenly.  "  I  will  not  leave  Alvarez  to  that 
mob.  If  they  want  to  kill  me,  let  them  kill 
me."  She  threw  the  bag  that  held  her  jewels 
on  the  bed,  and  pushing  open  the  window  step 
ped  out  upon  the  balcony.  She  was  conspicuous 
in  her  black  dress  against  the  yellow  stucco  of 
the  wall,  and  in  an  instant  the  mob  saw  her  and 
a  mad  shout  of  exultation  and  anger  rose  from 
the  mass  that  beat  and  crushed  itself  against 
the  high  iron  railings  of  the  garden.  Hope 
caught  the  woman  by  the  skirt  and  dragged  her 
back.  "  You  are  mad,"  she  said.  "  What  good 
can  you  do  your  husband  here  ?  Save  yourself 
and  he  will  come  to  you  when  lie  can.  There 
is  nothing  you  can  do  for  him  now ;  you  cannot 
give  your  life  for  him.  You  are  wasting  it,  and 
you  are  risking  the  lives  of  the  men  who  are 
waiting  for  us  below.  Come,  I  tell  you." 

Mac  Williams  left  Clay  waiting  beside  the  dili 
gence  and  ran  from  the  stable  through  the 
empty  house  and  down  the  marble  stairs  to  the 
garden  without  meeting  any  one  on  his  way. 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  265 

He  saw  Stuart  helping  and  directing  his  men  to 
barricade  the  gates  with  iron  urns  and  garden 
benches  and  sentry-boxes.  Outside  the  mob 
were  firing  at  him  with  their  revolvers,  and 
calling  him  foul  names,  but  Stuart  did  not 
seem  to  hear  them.  He  greeted  Mac  Williams 
with  a  cheerful  little  laugh.  "  Well,"  he  asked, 
"  is  she  ready  ?  " 

"  No,  but  we  are.  Clay  and  I  've  been  waiting 
there  for  five  minutes.  We  found  Miss  Hope's 
groom  and  sent  him  back  to  the  Palms  with  a 
message  to  King.  We  told  him  to  run  the  yacht 
to  Los  Bocos  and  lie  off  shore  until  we  came. 
He  is  to  take  her  on  down  the  coast  to  Tru- 
xillo,  where  our  man-of-war  is  lying,  and  they 
will  give  her  shelter  as  a  political  refugee." 

"  Why  don't  you  drive  her  to  the  Palms  at 
once?"  demanded  Stuart,  anxiously,  "  and  take 
her  on  board  the  yacht  there  ?  It  is  ten  miles  to 
Bocos  and  the  roads  are  very  bad." 

"  Clay  says  we  could  never  get  her  through 
the  city,"  Mac  Williams  answered.  u  We  should 
have  to  fight  all  the  way.  Bat  the  city  to  the 
south  is  deserted,  and  by  going  out  by  the  back 
roads,  we  can  make  Bocos  by  ten  o'clock  to 
night.  The  yacht  should  reach  there  by  seven." 

"  You  are  right ;  go  back.  I  will  call  off 
some  of  my  men.  The  rest  must  hold  this  mob 


266  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

back  until  you  start ;  then  I  will  follow  with  the 
others.  Where  is  Miss  Hope  ?  " 

"  We  don't  know.  Clay  is  frantic.  Her 
groom  says  she  is  somewhere  in  the  palace." 

"  Hurry,"  Stuart  commanded.  "  If  Mendoza 
gets  here  before  Madame  Alvarez  leaves,  it  will 
be  too  late." 

Mac  Williams  sprang  up  the  steps  of  the  pal 
ace,  and  Stuart,  calling  to  the  men  nearest  him 
to  follow,  started  after  him  on  a  run. 

As  Stuart  entered  the  palace  with  his  men  at 
his  heels,  Clay  was  hurrying  from  its  rear  en 
trance  along  the  upper  hall,  and  Hope  and  Ma 
dame  Alvarez  were  leaving  the  apartments  of  the 
latter  at  its  front.  They  met  at  the  top  of  the 
main  stairway  just  as  Stuart  put  his  foot  on  its 
lower  step.  The  young  Englishman  heard  the 
clatter  of  his  men  following  close  behind  him 
and  leaped  eagerly  forward.  Half  way  to  the 
top  the  noise  behind  him  ceased,  and  turning  his 
head  quickly  he  looked  back  over  his  shoulder 
and  saw  that  the  men  had  halted  at  the  foot  of 
the  stairs  and  stood  huddled  together  in  disorder 
looking  up  at  him.  Stuart  glanced  over  their 
heads  and  down  the  hallway  to  the  garden  be 
yond  to*  see  if  they  were  followed,  but  the  mob 
still  fought  from  the  outer  side  of  the  barricade. 
He  waved  his  sword  impatiently  and  started 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  267 

forward  again.  "  Come  on ! "  he  shouted.  But 
the  men  below  him  did  not  move.  Stuart  halted 
once  more  and  this  time  turned  about  and  looked 
down  upon  them  with  surprise  and  anger.  There 
was  not  one  of  them  he  could  not  have  called  by 
name.  He  knew  all  their  little  troubles,  their 
love-affairs,  even.  They  came  to  him  for  com 
fort  and  advice,  and  to  beg  for  money.  He  had 
regarded  them  as  his  children,  and  he  was  proud 
of  them  as  soldiers  because  they  were  the  work 
of  his  hands. 

So,  instead  of  a  sharp  command,  he  asked, 
"  What  is  it  ?  "  in  surprise,  and  stared  at  them 
wondering.  He  could  not  or  would  not  com 
prehend,  even  though  he  saw  that  those  in  the 
front  rank  were  pushing  back  and  those  behind 
were  urging  them  forward.  The  muzzles  of 
their  carbines  were  directed  at  every  point, 
and  on  their  faces  fear  and  hate  and  cowardice 
were  written  in  varying  likenesses. 

"What  does  this  mean  ?  "  Stuart  demanded, 
sharply.  "  What  are  you  waiting  for  ?  " 

Clay  had  just  reached  the  top  of  the  stairs. 
He  saw  Madame  Alvarez  and  Hope  coming 
toward  him,  and  at  the  sight  of  Hope  he  gave 
an  exclamation  of  relief. 

Then  his  eyes  turned  and  fell  on  the  tableau 
below,  on  Stuart's  back,  as  he  stood  confront- 


268  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

ing  the  men,  and  on  their  scowling  upturned 
faces  and  half-lifted  carbines.  Clay  had  lived 
for  a  longer  time  among  Spanish-Americans 
than  had  the  English  subaltern,  or  else  he  was 
the  quicker  of  the  two  to  believe  in  evil  and 
ingratitude,  for  he  gave  a  cry  of  warning,  and 
motioned  the  women  away. 

"  Stuart ! "  he  cried.  "  Come  away ;  for  God's 
sake,  what  are  you  doing  ?  Come  back ! " 

The  Englishman  started  at  the  sound  of  his 
friend's  voice,  but  he  did  not  turn  his  head. 
He  began  to  descend  the  stairs  slowly,  a  step 
at  a  time,  staring  at  the  mob  so  fiercely  that 
they  shrank  back  before  the  look  of  wounded 
pride  and  anger  in  his  eyes.  Those  in  the  rear 
raised  and  levelled  their  rifles.  Without  tak 
ing  his  eyes  from  theirs,  Stuart  drew  his 
revolver,  and  with  his  sword  swinging  from  its 
wrist-strap,  pointed  his  weapon  at  the  mass 
below  him. 

"  What  does  this  mean  ?  "  he  demanded.  "  Is 
this  mutiny  ?  " 

A  voice  from  the  rear  of  the  crowd  of  men 
shrieked:  "Death  to  the  Spanish  woman. 
Death  to  all  traitors.  Long  live  Mendoza," 
and  the  others  echoed  the  cry  in  chorus. 

Clay  sprang  down  the  broad  stairs  calling, 
"  Come  to  me ; "  but  before  he  could  reach 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  269 

Stuart,  a  woman's  voice  rang  out,  in  a  long 
terrible  cry  of  terror,  a  cry  that  was  neither  a 
prayer  nor  an  imprecation,  but  which  held  the 
agony  of  both.  Stuart  started,  and  looked  up 
to  where  Madame  Alvarez  had  thrown  herself 
toward  him  across  the  broad  balustrade  of  the 
stairway.  She  was  silent  with  fear,  and  her 
hand  clutched  at  the  air,  as  she  beckoned  wildly 
to  him.  Stuart  stared  at  her  with  a  troubled 
smile  and  waved  his  empty  hand  to  reassure 
her.  The  movement  was  final,  for  the  men 
below,  freed  from  the  reproach  of  his  eyes, 
flung  up  their  carbines  and  fired,  some  wildly, 
without  placing  their  guns  at  rest,  and  others 
steadily  and  aiming  straight  at  his  heart. 

As  the  volley  rang  out  and  the  smoke  drifted 
up  the  great  staircase,  the  subaltern's  hands 
tossed  high  above  his  head,  his  body  sank  into 
itself  and  toppled  backwards,  and,  like  a  tired 
child  falling  to  sleep,  the  defeated  soldier  of 
fortune  dropped  back  into  the  outstretched  arms 
of  his  friend. 

Clay  lifted  him  upon  his  knee,  and  crushed 
him  closer  against  his  breast  with  one  arm, 
while  he  tore  with  his  free  hand  at  the  stock 
about  the  throat  and  pushed  his  fingers  in 
between  the  buttons  of  the  tunic.  They  came 
forth  again  wet  and  colored  crimson. 


270  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

"Stuart!"  Clay  gasped.  "Stuart,  speak  to 
me,  look  at  me ! "  He  shook  the  body  in  his 
arms  with  fierce  roughness,  peering  into  the 
face  that  rested  on  his  shoulder,  as  though  he 
could  command  the  eyes  back  again  to  light 
and  life.  "Don't  leave  me!"  he  said.  "For 
God's  sake,  old  man,  don't  leave  me!" 

But  the  head  on  his  shoulder  only  sank  the 
closer  and  the  body  stiffened  in  his  arms. 
Clay  raised  his  eyes  and  saw  the  soldiers  still 
standing,  irresolute  and  appalled  at  what  they 
had  done,  and  awe-struck  at  the  sight  of  the 
grief  before  them. 

Clay  gave  a  cry  as  terrible  as  the  cry  of  a 
woman  who  has  seen  her  child  mangled  before 
her  eyes,  and  lowering  the  body  quickly  to  the 
steps,  he  ran  at  the  scattering  mass  below  him. 
As  he  came  they  fled  down  the  corridor,  shriek 
ing  and  calling  to  their  friends  to  throw  open  the 
gates  and  begging  them  to  admit  the  mob. 
When  they  reached  the  outer  porch  they  turned, 
encouraged  by  the  touch  of  numbers,  and  halted 
to  fire  at  the  man  who  still  followed  them. 

Clay  stopped,  with  a  look  in  his  eyes  which 
no  one  who  knew  them  had  ever  seen  there, 
and  smiled  with  pleasure  in  knowing  himself  a 
master  in  what  he  had  to  do.  And  at  each 
report  of  his  revolver  one  of  Stuart's  assassins 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  271 

stumbled  and  pitched  heavily  forward  on  his 
face.  Then  he  turned  and  walked  slowly  back 
up  the  hall  to  the  stairway  like  a  man  moving 
in  his  sleep.  He  neither  saw  nor  heard  the 
bullets  that  bit  spitefully  at  the  walls  about 
him  and  rattled  among  the  glass  pendants  of 
the  great  chandeliers  above  his  head.  When 
he  came  to  the  step  on  which  the  body  lay  he 
stooped  and  picked  it  up  gently,  and  holding  it 
across  his  breast,  strode  on  up  the  stairSo 
MacWilliams  and  Langham  were  coming  toward 
him,  and  saw  the  helpless  figure  in  his  arms. 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  they  cried ;  "  is  he  wounded, 
is  he  hurt  ?  " 

"He  is  dead,"  Clay  answered,  passing  on 
with  his  burden.  "  Get  Hope  away. " 

Madame  Alvarez  stood  with  the  girl's  arms 
about  her,  her  eyes  closed  and  her  figure 
trembling. 

"Let  me  be!"  she  moaned.  "Don't  touch 
me;  let  me  die.  My  God,  what  have  I  to  live 
for  now  ?  "  She  shook  off  Hope's  supporting 
arm,  and  stood  before  them,  all  her  former 
courage  gone,  trembling  and  shivering  in 
agony.  "  I  do  not  care  what  they  do  to  me !  " 
she  cried.  She  tore  her  lace  mantilla  from  her 
shoulders  and  threw  it  on  the  floor.  "I  shall 
not  leave  this  place.  He  is  dead.  Why  should 


272  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

I  go  ?  He  is  dead.  They  have  murdered  him ; 
he  is  dead." 

"She  is  fainting,"  said  Hope.  Her  voice 
was  strained  and  hard.  To  her  brother  she 
seemed  to  have  grown  suddenly  much  older, 
and  he  looked  to  her  to  tell  him  what  to  do. 

"Take  hold  of  her,"  she  said.  "She  will 
fall."  The  woman  sank  back  into  the  arms 
of  the  men,  trembling  and  moaning  feebly. 
"Now  carry  her  to  the  carriage,"  said  Hope. 
"She  has  fainted;  it  is  better;  she  does  not 
know  what  has  happened." 

Clay,  still  bearing  the  body  in  his  arms, 
pushed  open  the  first  door  that  stood  ajar  before 
him  with  his  foot.  It  opened  into  the  great 
banqueting  hall  of  the  palace,  .but  he  could  not 
choose.  He  had  to  consider  now  the  safety  of 
the  living,  whose  lives  were  still  in  jeopardy. 

The  long  table  in  the  centre  of  the  hall  was 
laid  with  places  for  many  people,  for  it  had 
been  prepared  for  the  President  and  the  Presi 
dent's  guests,  who  were  to  have  joined  with 
him  in  celebrating  the  successful  conclusion  of 
the  review.  From  outside  the  light  of  the  sun, 
which  was  just  sinking  behind  the  mountains, 
shone  dimly  upon  the  silver  on  the  board,  on 
the  glass  and  napery,  and  the  massive  gilt 
centre-pieces  filled  with  great  clusters  of  fresh 


HE    STRODE   ON   UP   THE    STAIRS, 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  273 

flowers.  It  looked  as  though  the  servants  had 
but  just  left  the  room.  Even  the  candles  had 
been  lit  in  readiness,  and  as  their  flames  wav 
ered  and  smoked  in  the  evening  breeze  they 
cast  uncertain  shadows  on  the  walls  and  showed 
the  stern  faces  of  the  soldier  presidents  frown 
ing  down  on  the  crowded  table  from  their 
gilded  frames. 

There  was  a  great  leather  lounge  stretching 
along  one  side  of  the  hall,  and  Clay  moved 
toward  this  quickly  and  laid  his  burden  down. 
He  was  conscious  that  Hope  was  still  following 
him.  He  straightened  the  limbs  of  the  body 
and  folded  the  arms  across  the  breast  and 
pressed  his  hand  for  an  instant  on  the  cold 
hands  of  his  friend,  and  then  whispering  some 
thing  between  his  lips,  turned  and  walked 
hurriedly  away. 

Hope  confronted  him  in  the  doorway.  She 
was  sobbing  silently.  "Must  we  leave  him," 
she  pleaded,  "  must  we  leave  him  —  like  this  ?  " 

From  the  garden  there  came  the  sound  of 
hammers  ringing  on  the  iron  hinges,  and  a 
great  crash  of  noises  as  the  gate  fell  back  from 
its  fastenings,  and  the  mob  rushed  over  the 
obstacles  upon  which  it  had  fallen.  It  seemed 
as  if  their  yells  of  exultation  and  anger  must 
reach  even  the  ears  of  the  dead  man. 
18 


274  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

"They  are  calling  Mendoza,"  Clay  whis 
pered,  "he  must  be  with  them.  Come,  we  will 
have  to  run  for  our  lives  now. " 

But  before  he  could  guess  what  Hope  was 
about  to  do,  or  could  prevent  her,  she  had 
slipped  past  him  and  picked  up  Stuart's  sword 
that  had  fallen  from  his  wrist  to  the  floor,  and 
laid  it  on  the  soldier's  body,  and  closed  his 
hands  upon  its  hilt.  She  glanced  quickly  about 
her  as  though  looking  for  something,  and  then 
with  a  sob  of  relief  ran  to  the  table,  and  sweep 
ing  it  of  an  armful  of  its  flowers,  stepped  swiftly 
back  again  to  the  lounge  and  heaped  them 
upon  it. 

"Come,  for  God's  sake,  come!"  Clay  called 
to  her  in  a  whisper  from  the  door. 

Hope  stood  for  an  instant  staring  at  the 
young  Englishman  as  the  candle-light  flickered 
over  his  white  face,  and  then,  droppping  on  her 
knees,  she  pushed  back  the  curly  hair  from 
about  the  boy's  forehead  and  kissed  him. 
Then,  without  turning  to  look  again,  she  placed 
her  hand  in  Clay's  and  he  ran  with  her,  drag 
ging  her  behind  him  down  the  length  of  the 
hall,  just  as  the  mob  entered  it  on  the  floor 
below  them  and  filled  the  palace  with  their 
shouts  of  triumph. 

As  the  sun  sank  lower  its  light  fell  more 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  275 

dimly  on  the  lonely  figure  in  the  vast  dining- 
hall,  and  as  the  gloom  deepened  there,  the 
candles  burned  with  greater  brilliancy,  and  the 
faces  of  the  portraits  shone  more  clearly. 

They  seemed  to  be  staring  down  less  sternly 
now  upon  the  white  mortal  face  of  the  brother- 
in-arms  who  had  just  joined  them. 

One  who  had  known  him  among  his  own 
people  would  have  seen  in  the  attitude  and  in 
the  profile  of  the  English  soldier  a  likeness  to 
his  ancestors  of  the  Crusades  who  lay  carved 
in  stone  in  the  village  church,  with  their  faces 
turned  to  the  sky,  their  faithful  hounds  waiting 
at  their  feet,  and  their  hands  pressed  upward 
in  prayer. 

And  when,  a  moment  later,  the  half-crazed 
mob  of  men  and  boys  swept  into  the  great 
room,  with  Mendoza  at  their  head,  something 
of  the  pathos  of  the  young  Englishman's  death 
in  his  foreign  place  of  exile  must  have  touched 
them,  for  they  stopped  appalled  and  startled, 
and  pressed  back  upon  their  fellows,  with  eager 
whispers.  The  Spanish-American  General 
strode  boldly  forward,  but  his  eyes  lowered 
before  the  calm,  white  face,  and  either  because 
the  lighted  candles  and  the  flowers  awoke  in 
him  some  memory  of  the  great  Church  that  had 
nursed  him,  or  because  the  jagged  holes  in  the 


276  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

soldier's  tunic  appealed  to  what  was  bravest  in 
him,  he  crossed  himself  quickly,  and  then 
raising  his  hands  slowly  to  his  visor,  lifted  his 
hat  and  pointed  with  it  to  the  door.  And  the 
mob,  without  once  looking  back  at  the  rich 
treasure  of  silver  on  the  table,  pushed  out 
before  him,  stepping  softly,  as  though  they  had 
intruded  on  a  shrine. 


XIII 

THE  President's  travelling  carriage  was  a 
double-seated  diligence  covered  with  heavy 
hoods  and  with  places  on  the  box  for  two  men. 
Only  one  of  the  coachmen,  the  same  man  who 
had  driven  the  State  carriage  from  the  review, 
had  remained  at  the  stables.  As  he  knew  the 
roads  to  Los  Bocos,  Clay  ordered  him  up  to  the 
driver's  seat,  and  MacWilliams  climbed  into 
the  place  beside  him  after  first  storing  three 
rifles  under  the  lap-robe. 

Hope  pulled  open  the  leather  curtains  of  the 
carriage  and  found  Madame  Alvarez  where  the 
men  had  laid  her  upon  the  cushions,  weak  and 
hysterical.  The  girl  crept  in  beside  her,  and 
lifting  her  in  her  arms,  rested  the  older 
woman's  head  against  her  shoulder,  and 
soothed  and  comforted  her  with  tenderness  and 
sympathy. 

Clay  stopped  with  his  foot  in  the  stirrup  and 
looked  up  anxiously  at  Langham  who  was 
already  in  the  saddle. 


278  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

"Is  there  no  possible  way  of  getting  Hope 
out  of  this  and  back  to  the  Palms  ? "  he  asked. 

"No,  it's  too  late.  This  is  the  only  way 
now. " 

Hope  opened  the  leather  curtains  and  looking 
out  shook  her  head  impatiently  at  Clay.  "I 
wouldn't  go  now  if  there  were  another  way," 
she  said.  "I  couldn't  leave  her  like  this." 

"You're  delaying  the  game,  Clay,"  cried 
Langham,  warningly,  as  he  stuck  his  spurs 
into  his  pony's  side. 

The  people  in  the  diligence  lurched  forward 
as  the  horses  felt  the  lash  of  the  whip  and 
strained  against  the  harness,  and  then  plunged 
ahead  at  a  gallop  on  their  long  race  to  the  sea. 
As  they  sped  through  the  gardens,  the  stables 
and  the  trees  hid  them  from  the  sight  of  those 
in  the  palace,  and  the  turf,  upon  which  the 
driver  had  turned  the  horses  for  greater  safety, 
deadened  the  sound  of  their  flight. 

They  found  the  gates  of  the  botanical  gardens 
already  open,,  and  Clay,  in  the  street  outside, 
beckoning  them  on.  Without  waiting  for  the 
others  the  two  outriders  galloped  ahead  to  the 
first  cross  street,  looked  up  and  down  its 
length,  and  then,  in  evident  concern  at  what 
they  saw  in  the  distance,  motioned  the  driver 
to  greater  speed,  and  crossing  the  street  sig- 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  279 

nailed  him  to  follow  them.  At  the  next  corner 
Clay  flung  himself  off  his  pony,  and  throwing 
the  bridle  to  Langham,  ran  ahead  into  the 
cross  street  on  foot,  and  after  a  quick  glance 
pointed  down  its  length  away  from  the  heart 
of  the  city  to  the  mountains. 

The  driver  turned  as  Clay  directed  him,  and 
when  the  man  found  that  his  face  was  fairly 
set  toward  the  goal  he  lashed  his  horses  reck 
lessly  through  the  narrow  street,  so  that  the 
murmur  of  the  mob  behind  them  grew  percep 
tibly  fainter  at  each  leap  forward. 

The  noise  of  the  galloping  hoofs  brought 
women  and  children  to  the  barred  windows  of 
the  houses,  but  no  men  stepped  into  the  road 
to  stop  their  progress,  and  those  few  they  met 
running  in  the  direction  of  the  palace  hastened 
to  get  out  of  their  way,  and  stood  with  their 
backs  pressed  against  the  walls  of  the  narrow 
thoroughfare  looking  after  them  with  wonder. 

Even  those  who  suspected  their  errand  were 
helpless  to  detain  them,  for  sooner  than  they 
could  raise  the  hue  and  cry  or  formulate  a  plan 
of  action,  the  carriage  had  passed  and  was  dis 
appearing  in  the  distance,  rocking  from  wheel 
to  wheel  like  a  ship  in  a  gale.  Two  men  who 
were  so  bold  as  to  start  to  follow,  stopped 
abruptly  when  they  saw  the  outriders  draw  rein 


280  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

and  turn  in  their  saddles  as  though  to  await 
their  coming. 

Clay's  mind  was  torn  with  doubts,  and  his 
nerves  were  drawn  taut  like  the  strings  of  a 
violin.  Personal  danger  exhilarated  him,  but 
this  chance  of  harm  to  others  who  were  help 
less,  except  for  him,  depressed  his  spirit  with 
anxiety.  He  experienced  in  his  own  mind  all 
the  nervous  fears  of  a  thief  who  sees  an  officer 
in  every  passing  citizen,  and  at  one  moment  he 
warned  the  driver  to  move  more  circumspectly, 
and  so  avert  suspicion,  and  the  next  urged  him 
into  more  desperate  bursts  of  speed.  In  his 
fancy  every  cross-street  threatened  an  ambush, 
and  as  he  cantered  now  before  and  now  behind 
the  carriage,  he  wished  that  he  was  a  multitude  of 
men  who  could  encompass  it  entirely  and  hide  it. 

But  the  solid  streets  soon  gave  way  to  open 
places,  and  low  mud  cabins,  where  the  horses' 
lioofs  beat  on  a  sun-baked  road,  and  where  the 
inhabitnnts  sat  lazily  before  the  door  in  the 
fading  light,  with  no  knowledge  of  the  changes 
that  the  day  had  wrought  in  the  city,  and  with 
only  a  moment's  curious  interest  in  the  hooded 
carriage,  and  the  grim,  white-faced  foreigners 
who  guarded  it. 

Clay  turned  his  pony  into  a  trot  at  Lang- 
ham's  side.  His  face  was  pale  and  drawn. 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  281 

As  the  danger  of  immediate  pursuit  and 
capture  grew  less,  the  carriage  had  slackened 
its  pace,  and  for  some  minutes  the  outriders 
galloped  on  together  side  by  side  in  silence. 
But  the  same  thought  was  in  the  mind  of  each, 
and  when  Langham  spoke  it  was  as  though  he 
were  continuing  where  he  had  but  just  been 
interrupted. 

He  laid  his  hand  gently  on  Clay's  arm.  He 
did  not  turn  his  face  toward  him,  and  his  eyes 
were  still  peering  into  the  shadows  before 
them.  "Tell  me  ?  "  he  asked. 

"He  was  coming  up  the  stairs,"  Clay  an 
swered.  He  spoke  in  so  low  a  voice  that 
Langham  had  to  lean  from  his  saddle  to  hear 
him.  "They  were  close  behind;  but  when 
they  saw  her  they  stopped  and  refused  to  go 
farther.  I  called  to  him  to  come  away,  but  he 
would  not  understand.  They  killed  him  before 
he  really  understood  what  they  meant  to  do. 
He  was  dead  almost  before  I  reached  him.  He 
died  in  my  arms."  There  was  a  long  pause. 
"I  wonder  if  he  knows  that?"  Clay  said. 

Langham  sat  erect  in  the  saddle  again  and 
drew  a  short  breath.  "I  wish  he  could  have 
known  how  he  helped  me, "  he  whispered,  "  how 
much  just  knowing  him  helped  me." 

Clay  bowed  his  head  to  the  boy  as  though  he 


282  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

were  thanking  him.  "His  was  the  gentlest 
soul  I  ever  knew,"  he  said. 

"That's  what  I  wanted  to  say,"  Langham 
answered.  "We  will  let  that  be  his  epitaph," 
and  touching  his  spur  to  his  horse  he  galloped 
on  ahead  and  left  Clay  riding  alone. 

Langham  had  proceeded  for  nearly  a  mile 
when  he  saw  the  forest  opening  before  them, 
and  at  the  sight  he  gave  a  shout  of  relief,  but 
almost  at  the  same  instant  he  pulled  his  pony 
back  on  his  haunches  and  whirling  him  about, 
sprang  back  to  the  carriage  with  a  cry  of 
warning. 

"There  are  soldiers  ahead  of  us,"  he  cried. 
"  Did  you  know  it  ?  "  he  demanded  of  the  driver. 
"Did  you  lie  to  me  ?  Turn  back." 

"He  can't  turn  back,"  MacWilliams  an 
swered.  "  They  have  seen  us.  They  are  only 
the  custom  officers  at  the  city  limits.  They 
know  nothing.  Go  on."  He  reached  forward 
and  catching  the  reins  dragged  the  horses  down 
into  a  walk.  Then  he  handed  the  reins  back 
to  the  driver  with  a  shake  of  the  head. 

"  If  you  know  these  roads  as  well  as  you  say 
you  do,  you  want  to  keep  us  out  of  the  way  of 
soldiers,"  he  said.  "If  we  fall  into  a  trap 
you'll  be  the  first  man  shot  on  either  side." 

A  sentry  strolled   lazily  out  into  the   road 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  283 

dragging  his  gun  after  him  by  the  bayonet,  and 
raised  his  hand  for  them  to  halt.  His  captain 
followed  him  from  the  post-house  throwing 
away  a  cigarette  as  he  came,  and  saluted 
MacWilliams  on  the  box  and  bowed  to  the  two 
riders  in  the  background.  In  his  right  hand 
he  held  one  of  the  long  iron  rods  with  which 
the  collectors  of  the  city's  taxes  were  wont  to 
pierce  the  bundles  and  packs,  and  even  the  car 
riage  cushions  of  those  who  entered  the  city 
limits  from  the  coast,  and  who  might  be  sus 
pected  of  smuggling. 

"Whose  carriage  is  this,  and  where  is  it 
going  ?  "  he  asked. 

As  the  speed  of  the  diligence  slackened, 
Hope  put  her  head  out  of  the  curtains,  and  as 
she  surveyed  the  soldier  with  apparent  sur 
prise,  she  turned  to  her  brother. 

"  What  does  this  mean  ?"  she  asked.  "What 
are  we  waiting  for  ?  " 

"We  are  going  to  the  Hacienda  of  Senor 
Palacio,"  MacWilliams  said,  in  answer  to  the 
officer.  "The  driver  thinks  that  this  is  the 
road,  but  I  say  we  should  have  taken  the  one 
to  the  right." 

"No,  this  is  the  road  to  Senor  Palacio's 
plantation,"  the  officer  answered,  "but  you 
cannot  leave  the  city  without  a  pass  signed  by 


284  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

General  Mendoza.  That  is  the  order  we  re 
ceived  this  morning.  Have  you  such  a  pass  ?  " 

"Certainly  not,"  Clay  answered,  warmly. 
"This  is  the  carriage  of  an  American,  the 
president  of  the  mines.  His  daughters  are  in 
side  and  on  their  way  to  visit  the  residence  of 
Senor  Palacio.  They  are  foreigners  —  Ameri 
cans.  We  are  all  foreigners,  and  we  have  a 
perfect  right  to  leave  the  city  when  we  choose. 
You  can  only  stop  us  when  we  enter  it." 

The  officer  looked  uncertainly  from  Clay  to 
Hope  and  up  at  the  driver  on  the  box.  His 
eyes  fell  upon  the  heavy  brass  mountings  of  the 
harness.  They  bore  the  arms  of  Olancho.  He 
wheeled  sharply  and  called  to  his  men  inside 
the  post-house,  and  they  stepped  out  from  the 
veranda  and  spread  themselves  leisurely  across 
the  road. 

"Ride  him  down,  Clay,"  Langham  muttered, 
in  a  whisper.  The  officer  did  not  understand 
the  words,  but  he  saw  Clay  gather  the  reins 
tighter  in  his  hands  and  he  stepped  back  quickly 
to  the  safety  of  the  porch,  and  from  that  ground 
of  vantage  smiled  pleasantly. 

"Pardon/'  he  said,  "there  is  no  need  for 
blows  when  one  is  rich  enough  to  pay.  A  little 
something  for  myself  and  a  drink  for  my  brave 
fellows,  and  you  can  go  where  you  please. " 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  285 

"Damned  brigands,"  growled  Langham, 
savagely. 

"Not  at  all,"  Clay  answered.  "He  is  an 
officer  and  a  gentleman.  I.  have  no  money 
with  me,"  he  said,  in  Spanish,  addressing  the 
officer,  "but  between  caballeros  a  word  of 
honor  is  sufficient.  I  shall  be  returning  this 
way  to-morrow  morning,  and  I  will  bring  a  few 
hundred  sols  from  Senor  PaUcio  for  you  and 
your  men ;  but  if  we  are  followed  you  will  get 
nothing,  and  you  must  have  forgotten  in  the 
mean  time  that  you  have  seen  us  pass." 

There  was  a  murmur  inside  the  carriage,  and 
Hope's  face  disappeared  from  between  the  cur 
tains  to  reappear  again  almost  immediately. 
She  beckoned  to  the  officer  with  her  hand,  and 
the  men  saw  that  she  held  between  her  thumb 
and  little  finger  a  diamond  ring  of  size  and 
brilliancy.  She  moved  it  so  that  it  flashed  in 
the  light  of  the  guard  lantern  above  the  post- 
house. 

"  My  sister  tells  me  you  shall  be  given  this 
to-morrow  morning,"  Hope  said,  "if  we  are 
not  followed." 

The  man's  eyes  laughed  with  pleasure.  He 
swept  his  sombrero  to  the  ground. 

"I  am  your  servant,  Senorita,"  he  said. 
"Gentlemen,"  he  cried,  gayly,  turning  to  Clay, 


286  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

"  if  you  wish  it,  I  will  accompany  you  with  my 
men.  Yes,  I  will  leave  word  that  I  have  gone 
in  the  sudden  pursuit  of  smugglers;  or  I  will 
remain  here  as  you  wish,  and  send  those  who 
may  follow  back  again." 

"  You  are  most  gracious,  sir, "  said  Clay.  "  It 
is  always  a  pleasure  to  meet  with  a  gentleman 
and  a  philosopher.  We  prefer  to  travel  with 
out  an  escort,  and  remember,  you  have  seen 
nothing  and  heard  nothing.''  He  leaned  from 
the  saddle,  and  touched  the  officer  on  the 
breast.  "  That  ring  is  worth  a  king's  ransom. " 

"Or  a  president's,"  muttered  the  man,  smil 
ing.  "Let  the  American  ladies  pass,"  he 
commanded. 

The  soldiers  scattered  as  the  whip  fell,  and 
the  horses  once  more  leaped  forward,  and  as 
the  carriage  entered  the  forest,  Clay  looked 
back  and  saw  the  officer  exhaling  the  smoke  of 
a  fresh  cigarette,  with  the  satisfaction  of  one 
who  enjoys  a  clean  conscience  and  a  sense  of 
duty  well  performed. 

The  road  through  the  forest  was  narrow  and 
uneven,  and  as  the  horses  fell  into  a  trot  the 
men  on  horseback  closed  up  together  behind 
the  carriage. 

"Do  you  think  that  road-agent  will  keep  his 
word  ?  "  Langham  asked. 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  287 

"  Yes ;  he  has  nothing  to  win  by  telling  the 
truth, "  Clay  answered.  "He  can  say  he  saw 
a  party  of  foreigners,  Americans,  driving  in 
the  direction  of  Palacio's  coffee  plantation. 
That  lets  him  out,  and  in  the  morning  he 
knows  he  can  levy  on  us  for  the  gate  money. 
I  am  not  so  much  afraid  of  being  overtaken  as 
I  am  that  King  may  make  a  mistake  and  not 
get  to  Bocos  on  time.  We  ought  to  reach 
there,  if  the  carriage  holds  together,  by  eleven. 
King  should  be  there  by  eight  o'clock,  and  the 
yacht  ought  to  make  the  run  to  Truxillo  in 
three  hours.  But  we  shall  not  be  able  to  get 
back  to  the  city  before  five  to-morrow  morning. 
I  suppose  your  family  will  be  wild  about  Hope. 
We  did  n't  know  where  she  was  when  we  sent 
the  groom  back  to  King." 

"Do  you  think  that  driver  is  taking  us  the 
right  way  ? "  Langham  asked,  after  a  pause. 

"He'd  better.  He  knows  it  wel1  enough. 
He  was  through  the  last  revolution,  and  car 
ried  messages  from  Los  Bocos  to  the  city  on 
foot  for  two  months.  He  has  covered  every 
trail  on  the  way,  and  if  he  goes  wrong  he 
knows  what  will  happen  to  him." 

"And  Los  Bocos  —  it  is  a  village,  isn't  it, 
and  the  landing  must  be  in  sight  of  the  Custom 
house  ? " 


288  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

"The  village  lies  some  distance  back  from 
the  shore,  and  the  only  house  on  the  beach  is 
the  Custom-house  itself;  but  every  one  will  be 
asleep  by  the  time  we  get  there,  and  it  will 
take  us  only  a  minute  to  hand  her  into  the 
launch.  If  there  should  be  a  guard  there,  King 
will  have  fixed  them  one  way  or  another  by 
the  time  we  arrive.  Anyhow,  there  is  no  need 
of  looking  for  trouble  that  far  ahead.  There  is 
enough  to  worry  about  in  between.  We  have  n't 
got  there  yet. " 

The  moon  rose  grandly  a  few  minutes  later, 
and  flooded  the  forest  with  light  so  that  the 
open  places  were  as  clear  as  day.  It  threw 
strange  shadows  across  the  trail,  and  turned 
the  rocks  and  fallen  trees  into  figures  of  men 
crouching  or  standing  upright  with  uplifted 
arms.  •  They  were  so  like  to  them  that  Clay 
and  Langham  flung  their  carbines  to  their 
shoulders  again  and  again,  and  pointed  them 
at  some  black  object  that  turned  as  they  ad 
vanced  into  wood  or  stone.  From  the  forest 
they  came  to  little  streams  and  broad  shallow 
rivers  where  the  rocks  in  the  fording  places 
churned  the  water  into  white  masses  of  foam, 
and  the  horses  kicked  up  showers  of  spray  as 
they  made  their  way,  slipping  and  stumbling, 
against  the  current.  It  was  a  silent  pilgrim- 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  289 

age,  and  never  for  a  moment  did  the  strain 
slacken  or  the  men  draw  rein.  Sometimes,  as 
they  hurried  across  a  broad  tableland,  or 
skirted  the  edge  of  a  precipice  and  looked 
down  hundreds  of  feet  below  at  the  shining 
waters  they  had  just  forded,  or  up  at  the  rocky 
points  of  the  mountains  before  them,  the  beauty 
of  the  night  overcame  them  and  made  them 
forget  the  significance  of  their  journey. 

They  were  not  always  alone,  for  they  passed 
at  intervals  through  sleeping  villages  of  mud 
huts  with  thatched  roofs,  where  the  dogs  ran 
yelping  out  to  bark  at  them,  and  where  the  pine- 
knots,  blazing  on  the  clay  ovens,  burned  cheer 
ily  in  the  moonlight.  In  the  low  lands  where 
the  fever  lay,  the  mist  rose  above  the  level  of 
their  heads  and  enshrouded  them  in  a  curtain 
of  fog,  and  the  dew  fell  heavily,  penetrating  their 
clothing  and  chilling  their  heated  bodies  so  that 
the  sweating  horses  moved  in  a  lather  of  steam. 

They  had  settled  down  into  a  steady  gallop 
now,  and  ten  or  fifteen  miles  had  been  left  be 
hind  them. 

"  We  are  making  excellent  time,"  said  Clay. 
"  The  village  of  San  Lorenzo  should  lie  beyond 
that  ridge."  He  drove  up  beside  the  driver  and 
pointed  with  his  whip.  "  Is  not  that  San  Lo 
renzo  ?"  he  asked. 

19 


290  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

"  Yes,  senor,"  the  man  answered,  "  but  I  mean 
to  drive  around  it  by  the  old  wagon  trail.  It  is 
a  large  town,  and  people  may  be  awake.  You 
will  be  able  to  see  it  from  the  top  of  the  next 
hill." 

The  cavalcade  stopped  at  the  summit  of  the 
ridge  and  the  men  looked  down  into  the  silent 
village.  It  was  like  the  others  they  had  passed, 
with  a  few  houses  built  round  a  square  of  grass 
that  could  hardly  be  recognized  as  a  plaza,  ex 
cept  for  the  church  on  its  one  side,  and  the  huge 
wooden  cross  planted  in  its  centre.  From  the 
top  of  the  hill  they  could  see  that  the  greater 
number  of  the  houses  were  in  darkness,  but  in  a 
large  building  of  two  stories  lights  were  shining 
from  every  window. 

"  That  is  the  comandancia,"  said  the  driver, 
shaking  his  head.  "  They  are  still  awake.  It 
is  a  telegraph  station." 

"  Great  Scott !  "  exclaimed  Mac  Williams. 
"  We  forgot  the  telegraph.  They  may  have 
sent  word  to  head  us  off  already." 

"  Nine  o'clock  is  not  so  very  late,"  said  Clay. 
"  It  may  mean  nothing." 

"  We  had  better  make  sure,  though,"  Mac- 
Williams  answered,  jumping  to  the  ground. 
"  Lend  me  your  pony,  Ted,  and  take  my  place. 
I  '11  run  in  there  and  dust  around  and  see  what 's 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  291 

up.  I  '11  join  you  on  the  other  side  of  the  town 
after  you  get  back  to  the  main  road." 

"  Wait  a  minute,"  said  Clay.  "  What  do  you 
mean  to  do  ? " 

"  I  can't  tell  till  I  get  there,  but  I  '11  try  to 
find  out  how  much  they  know.  Don't  you  be 
afraid.  I  '11  run  fast  enough  if  there 's  any  sign 
of  trouble.  And  if  you  come  across  a  telegraph 
wire,  cut  it.  The  message  may  not  have  gone 
over  yet." 

The  two  women  in  the  carriage  had  parted 
the  flaps  of  the  hoods  and  were  trying  to  hear 
what  was  being  said,  but  could  not  understand, 
and  Langham  explained  to  them  that  they  were 
about  to  make  a  slight  detour  to  avoid  San 
Lorenzo  while  Mac  Williams  was  going  into  it 
to  reconnoitre.  He  asked  if  they  were  comfort 
able,  and  assured  them  that  the  greater  part  of 
the  ride  was  over,  and  that  there  was  a  good 
road  from  San  Lorenzo  to  the  sea. 

MacWilliams  rode  down  into  the  village  along 
the  main  trail,  and  threw  his  reins  over  a  post 
in  front  of  the  comandancia.  He  mounted 
boldly  to  the  second  floor  of  the  building  and 
stopped  at  the  head  of  the  stairs,  in  front  of  an 
open  door.  There  were  three  men  in  the  room 
before  him,  one  an  elderly  man,  whom  he  rightly 
guessed  was  the  comandante,  and  two  younger 


292  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

men  who  were  standing  behind  a  railing  and 
bending  over  a  telegraph  instrument  on  a  table. 
As  he  stamped  into  the  room,  they  looked  up 
and  stared  at  him  in  surprise  ;  their  faces  showed 
that  he  had  interrupted  them  at  a  moment  of 
unusual  interest. 

Mac  Williams  saluted  the  three  men  civilly, 
and,  according  to  the  native  custom,  apologized 
for  appearing  before  them  in  his  spurs.  He 
had  been  riding  from  Los  Bocos  to  the  capital, 
he  said,  and  his  horse  had  gone  lame.  Could 
they  tell  him  if  there  was  any  one  in  the  village 
from  whom  he  could  hire  a  mule,  as  he  must 
push  on  to  the  capital  that  night? 

The  comandarite  surveyed  him  for  a  mo 
ment,  as  though  still  disturbed  by  the  interrup 
tion,  and  then  shook  his  head  impatiently  :  "You 
can  hire  a  mule  from  one  Pulido  Paul,  at  the 
corner  of  the  plaza,"  he  said.  And  as  Mac  Wil 
liams  still  stood  uncertainly,  he  added,  "You 
say  you  have  come  from  Los  Bocos.  Did  you 
meet  any  one  on  your  way  ?  " 

The  two  younger  men  looked  up  at  him  anx 
iously,  but  before  he  could  answer,  the  instru 
ment  began  to  tick  out  the  signal,  and  they 
turned  their  eyes  to  it  again,  and  one  of  them 
began  to  take  its  message  down  on  paper. 

The  instrument  spoke  to  Mac  Williams  also, 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  293 

for  he  was  used  to  sending  telegrams  daily  from 
the  office  to  the  mines,  and  could  make  it  talk 
for  him  in  either  English  or  Spanish.  So,  in 
his  effort  to  hear  what  it  might  say,  he  stam 
mered  and  glanced  at  it  involuntarily,  and  the 
comanddnte,  without  suspecting  his  reason  for 
doing  so,  turned  also  and  peered  over  the  shoul 
der  of  the  man  who  was  receiving  the  message. 
Except  for  the  clicking  of  the  instrument,  the 
room  was  absolutely  still ;  the  three  men  bent 
silently  over  the  table,  while  Mac  Williams  stood 
gazing  at  the  ceiling  and  turning  his  hat  in  his 
hands.  The  message  Mac  Williams  read  from 
the  instrument  was  this :  "  They  are  reported 
to  have  left  the  city  by  the  south,  so  they  are 
going  to  Para,  or  San  Pedro,  or  to  Los  Bocos. 
She  must  be  stopped  —  take  an  armed  force  and 
guard  the  roads.  If  necessary,  kill  her.  She 
has  in  the  carriage  or  hidden  on  her  person, 
drafts  for  five  million  sols.  You  will  be  held 
responsible  for  every  one  of  them.  Repeat  this 
message  to  show  you  understand,  and  relay  it  to 
Los  Bocos.  If  you  fail  —  " 

Mac  Williams  could  not  wait  to  hear  more; 
he  gave  a  curt  nod  to  the  men  and  started 
toward  the  stairs.  "  Wait,"  the  comandante 
called  after  him. 

Mac  Williams  paused  with  one  hand  on  top  of 


294  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

the  banisters  balancing  himself  in  readiness  for 
instant  flight. 

"  You  have  not  answered  me.  Did  you  meet 
with  any  one  on  your  ride  here  from  Los 
Bocos?" 

"  I  met  several  men  on  foot,  and  the  mail  car 
rier  passed  me  a  league  out  from  the  coast,  and 
oh,  yes,  I  met  a  carriage  at  the  cross  roads,  and 
the  driver  asked  me  the  way  of  San  Pedro 
Sals." 

"  A  carriage  ?  —  yes  —  and  what  did  you  tell 
him?" 

"  I  told  him  he  was  on  the  road  to  Los  Bocos, 
and  he  turned  back  and  —  " 

"  You  are  sure  he  turned  back  ?  " 

"  Certainly,  sir.  I  rode  behind  him  for  some 
distance.  He  turned  finally  to  the  right  into 
the  trail  to  San  Pedro  Sula." 

The  man  flung  himself  across  the  railing. 

"  Quick,"  he  commanded,  "  telegraph  to  Mo 
rales,  Comandante  San  Pedro  Sula- 

He  had  turned  his  back  on  Mac  Williams,  and 
as  the  younger  man  bent  over  the  instrument, 
MacWilliams  stepped  softly  down  the  stairs, 
and  mounting  his  pony  rode  slowly  off  in  the 
direction  of  the  capital.  As  soon  as  he  had 
reached  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  he  turned 
and  galloped  round  it  and  then  rode  fast  with 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  295 

his  head  in  air,  glancing  up  at  the  telegraph 
wire  that  sagged  from  tree-trunk  to  tree-trunk 
along  the  trail.  At  a  point  where  he  thought 
he  could  dismount  in  safety  and  tear  down 
the  wire,  he  came  across  it  dangling  from  the 
branches  and  he  gave  a  shout  of  relief.  He 
caught  the  loose  end  and  dragged  it  free  from 
its  support,  and  then  laying  it  across  a  rock 
pounded  the  blade  of  his  knife  upon  it  with  a 
stone,  until  he  had  hacked  off  a  piece  some  fifty 
feet  in  length.  Taking  this  in  his  hand  he 
mounted  again  and  rode  off  with  it,  dragging 
the  wire  in  the  road  behind  him.  He  held  it  up 
as  he  rejoined  Clay,  and  laughed  triumphantly. 
"  They  '11  have  some  trouble  splicing  that  cir 
cuit,"  he  said,  "you  only  half  did  the  work. 
What  would  n't  we  give  to  know  all  this  little 
piece  of  copper  knows,  eh  ?  " 

"  Do  you  mean  you  think  they  have  tele 
graphed  to  Los  Bocos  already  ? " 

"  I  know  that  they  were  telegraphing  to  San 
Pedro  Sula  as  I  left  and  to  all  the  coast  towns. 
But  whether  you  cut  this  down  before  or  after  is 
what  I  should  like  to  know." 

"  We  shall  probably  learn  that  later,"  said 
Clay,  grimly. 

The  last  three  miles  of  the  journey  lay  over  a 
hard,  smooth  road,  wide  enough  to  allow  the 


f 
296  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

carriage  and  its  escort  to  ride  abreast.  It  was 
in  such  contrast  to  the  tortuous  paths  they 
had  just  followed,  that  the  horses  gained  a 
fresh  impetus  and  galloped  forward  as  freely 
as  though  the  race  had  but  just  begun. 

Madame  Alvarez  stopped  the  carriage  at  one 
place  and  asked  the  men  to  lower  the  hood  at 
the  back  that  she  might  feel  the  fresh  air  and 
see  about  her,  and  when  this  had  been  done,  the 
women  seated  themselves  with  their  backs  to  the 
horses  where  they  could  look  out  at  the  moonlit 
road  as  it  unrolled  behind  them. 

Hope  felt  selfishly  and  wickedly  happy.  The 
excitement  had  kept  her  spirits  at  the  highest 
point,  and  the  knowledge  that  Clay  was  guard 
ing  and  protecting  her  was  in  itself  a  pleasure. 
She  leaned  back  on  the  cushions  and  put  her 
arm  around  the  older  woman's  waist,  and  lis 
tened  to  the  light  beat  of  his  pony's  hoofs  out 
side,  now  running  ahead,  now  scrambling  and 
slipping  up  some  steep  place,  and  again  coming 
to  a  halt  as  Langham  or  MacWilliams  called, 
"  Look  to  the  right,  behind  those  trees,"  or 
"  Ahead  there !  Don't  you  see  what  I  mean, 
something  crouching  ?  " 

She  did  not  know  when  the  false  alarms 
would  turn  into  a  genuine  attack,  but  she  was 
confident  that  when  the  time  came,  he  would 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  297 

take  care  of  her,  and  she  welcomed  the  danger 
because  it  brought  that  solace  with  it. 

Madame  Alvarez  sat  at  her  side,  rigid,  silent, 
and  beyond  the  help  of  comfort.  She  tortured 
herself  with  thoughts  of  the  ambitions  she  had 
held,  and  which  had  been  so  cruelly  mocked 
that  very  morning;  of  the  chivalric  love  that 
had  been  hers,  of  the  life  even  that  had  been 
hers,  and  which  had  been  given  up  for  her  so 
tragically.  When  she  spoke  at  all,  it  was  to 
murmur  her  sorrow  that  Hope  had  exposed  her 
self  to  danger  on  her  poor  account,  and  that 
her  life,  as  far  as  she  loved  it,  was  at  an  end. 
Only  once  after  the  men  had  parted  the  curtains 
and  asked  concerning  her  comfort  with  grave 
solicitude  did  she  give  way  to  tears. 

"  Why  are  they  so  good  to  me  ? "  she  moaned. 
"  Why  are  you  so  good  to  me  ?  I  am  a  wicked, 
vain  woman,  I  have  brought  a  nation  to  war 
and  I  have  killed  the  only  man  I  ever  trusted." 

Hope  touched  her  gently  with  her  hand  and 
felt  guiltily  how  selfish  she  herself  must  be  not 
to  feel  the  woman's  grief,  but  she  could  not. 
She  only  saw  in  it  a  contrast  to  her  own  happi 
ness,  a  black  background  before  which  the  fig 
ure  of  Clay  and  his  solicitude  for  her  shone  out, 
the  only  fact  in  the  world  that  was  of  value. 

Her  thoughts  were  interrupted  by  the  carriage 


298  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

coining  to  a  halt,  and  a  significant  movement 
upon  the  part  of  the  men.  MacWilliams  had 
descended  from  the  box-seat  and  stepping  into 
the  carriage  took  the  place  the  women  had  just 
left. 

He  had  a  carbine  in  his  hand,  and  after  he 
was  seated  Langham  handed  him  another  which 
he  laid  across  his  knees. 

"  They  thought  I  was  too  conspicuous  on  the 
box  to  do  any  good  there,"  he  explained  in 
a  confidential  whisper.  "  In  case  there  is  any 
firing  now,  you  ladies  want  to  get  down  on  your 
knees  here  at  my  feet,  and  hide  your  heads  in 
the  cushions.  We  are  entering  Los  Bocos." 

Langham  and  Clay  were  riding  far  in  ad 
vance,  scouting  to  the  right  and  left,  and  the 
carriage  moved  noiselessly  behind  them  through 
the  empty  streets.  There  was  no  light  in  any 
of  the  windows,  and  not  even  a  dog  barked,  or 
a  cock  crowed.  The  women  sat  erect,  listening 
for  the  first  signal  of  an  attack,  each  holding  the 
other's  hand  and  looking  at  MacWilliams,  who 
sat  with  his  thumb  on  the  trigger  of  his  carbine, 
glancing  to  the  right  and  left  and  breathing 
quickly.  His  eyes  twinkled,  like  those  of  a  little 
fox  terrier.  The  men  dropped  back,  and  drew 
up  on  a  level  with  the  carriage. 

"  We  are  all  right,  so  far,"  Clay  whispered. 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  299 

"  The  beach  slopes  down  from  the  other  side 
of  that  line  of  trees.  What  is  the  matter  with 
you  ?"  he  demanded,  suddenly,  looking  up  at  the 
driver,  "  are  you  afraid  ? " 

"  No,"  the  man  answered,  hurriedly,  his  voice 
shaking ;  "  it 's  the  cold." 

Langham  had  galloped  on  ahead  and  as  he 
passed  through  the  trees  and  came  out  upon 
the  beach,  he  saw  a  broad  stretch  of  moonlit 
water  and  the  lights  from  the  yacht  shining  from 
a  point  a  quarter  of  a  mile  off  shore.  Among 
the  rocks  on  the  edge  of  the  beach  was  the 
6  Testa's '  long-boat  and  her  crew  seated  in  it  or 
standing  about  on  the  beach.  The  carriage  had 
stopped  under  the  protecting  shadow  of  the 
trees,  and  he  raced  back  toward  it. 

"  The  yacht  is  here,"  he  cried.  "  The  long 
boat  is  waiting  and  there  is  not  a  sign  of  light 
about  the  Custom-house.  Come  on,"  he  cried. 
"  We  have  beaten  them  after  all." 

A  sailor,  who  had  been  acting  as  lookout  on 
the  rocks,  sprang  to  his  full  height,  and  shouted 
to  the  group  around  the  long-boat,  and  King 
came  up  the  beach  toward  them  running  heav 
ily  through  the  deep  sand. 

Madame  Alvarez  stepped  down  from  the  car 
riage,  and  as  Hope  handed  her  her  jewel  case 
in  silence,  the  men  draped  her  cloak  about  her 


300  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

shoulders.  She  put  out  her  hand  to  them,  and 
as  Clay  took  it  in  his,  she  bent  her  head  quickly 
and  kissed  his  hand.  "  You  were  his  friend," 
she  murmured. 

She  held  Hope  in  her  arms  for  an  instant, 
and  kissed  her,  and  then  gave  her  hand  in  turn 
to  Langham  and  to  Mac  Williams. 

"  I  do  not  know  whether  I  shall  ever  see  you 
again,"  she  said,  looking  slowly  from  one  to  the 
other,  "  but  I  will  pray  for  you  every  day,  and 
God  will  reward  you  for  saving  a  worthless 
life."  As  she  finished  speaking  King  came  up 
to  the  group,  followed  by  three  of  his  men. 

"  Is  Hope  with  you,  is  she  safe  ? "   he  asked. 

"  Yes,  she  is  with  me,"  Madame  Alvarez  an 
swered. 

"  Thank  God,"  King  exclaimed,  breathlessly. 
"  Then  we  will  start  at  once,  Madame.  Where 
is  she  ?  She  must  come  with  us  !  " 

"  Of  course,"  Clay  assented,  eagerly,  "  she 
will  be  much  safer  on  the  yacht." 

But  Hope  protested.  "  I  must  get  back  to 
father,"  she  said.  "  The  yacht  will  not  arrive 
until  late  to-morrow,  and  the  carriage  can  take 
me  to  him  five  hours  earlier.  The  family  have 
worried  too  long  about  me  as  it  is,  and,  besides, 
I  will  not  leave  Ted.  I  am  going  back  as  I 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  301 

"  It  is  most  unsafe,"  King  urged. 

"  On  the  contrary,  it  is  perfectly  safe  now," 
Hope  answered.  "  It  was  not  one  of  us  they 
wanted." 

"You  may  be  right,"  King  said.  "They 
don't  know  what  has  happened  to  you,  and  per 
haps  after  all  it  would  be  better  if  you  went 
back  the  quicker  way."  He  gave  his  arm  to 
Madame  Alvarez  and  walked  with  her  toward 
the  shore.  As  the  men  surrounded  her  on 
every  side  and  moved  away,  Clay  glanced  back 
at  Hope  and  saw  her  standing  upright  in  the 
carriage  looking  after  them. 

"  We  will  be  with  you  in  a  minute,"  he 
called,  as  though  in  apology  for  leaving  her  for 
even  that  brief  space.  And  then  the  shadow  of 
the  trees  shut  her  and  the  carriage  from  his 
sight.  His  footsteps  made  no  sound  in  the  soft 
sand,  and  except  for  the  whispering  of  the 
palms  and  the  sleepy  wash  of  the  waves  as  they 
ran  up  the  pebbly  beach  and  sank  again,  the 
place  was  as  peaceful  and  silent  as  a  deserted 
island,  though  the  moon  made  it  as  light  as  day. 

The  long-boat  had  been  drawn  up  with  her 
stern  to  the  shore,  and  the  men  were  already  in 
their  places,  some  standing  waiting  for  the 
order  to  shove  off,  and  others  seated  balancing 
their  oars. 


302  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

King  had  arranged  to  fire  a  rocket  when  the 
launch  left  the  shore,  in  order  that  the  captain 
of  the  yacht  might  run  in  closer  to  pick  them 
up.  As  he  hurried  down  the  beach,  he  called 
to  his  boatswain  to  give  the  signal,  and  the  man 
answered  that  he  understood  and  stooped  to 
light  a  match.  King  had  jumped  into  the  stern 
and  lifted  Madame  Alvarez  after  him,  leaving 
her  late  escort  standing  with  uncovered  heads 
on  the  beach  behind  her,  when  the  rocket  shot 
up  into  the  calm  white  air,  with  a  roar  and  a 
rush  and  a  sudden  flash  of  color.  At  the  same 
instant,  as  though  in  answer  to  its  challenge, 
the  woods  back  of  them  burst  into  an  irregular 
line  of  flame,  a  volley  of  rifle  shots  shattered 
the  silence,  and  a  score  of  bullets  splashed  in 
the  water  and  on  the  rocks  about  them. 

The  boatswain  in  the  bow  of  the  long-boat 
tossed  up  his  arms  and  pitched  forward  between 
the  thwarts. 

"  Give  way,"  he  shouted  as  he  fell. 

"  Pull,"    Clay  yelled,  "  pull,  all  of  you." 

He  threw  himself  against  the  stern  of  the 
boat,  and  Langham  and  MacWilliams  clutched 
its  sides,  and  with  their  shoulders  against  it  and 
their  bodies  half  sunk  in  the  water,  shoved  it 
off,  free  of  the  shore. 

The  shots  continued  fiercely,  and  two  of  the 


SOLDIERS   OF  FOETUNE  303 

crew  cried  out  and  fell  back  upon  the  oars  of 
the  men  behind  them. 

Madame  Alvarez  sprang  to  her  feet  and  stood 
swaying  unsteadily  as  the  boat  leaped  forward. 

"  Take  me  back.  Stop,  I  command  you, "  she 
cried,  "I  will  not  leave  those  men.  Do  you 
hear  ?  " 

King  caught  her  by  the  waist  and  dragged 
her  down,  but  she  struggled  to  free  herself.  "  I 
will  not  leave  them  to  be  murdered, "  she  cried. 
"  You  cowards,  put  me  back. " 

"Hold  her,  King,"  Clay  shouted.  "We're 
all  right.  They  're  not  firing  at  us." 

His  voice  was  drowned  in  the  noise  of  the 
oars  beating  in  the  rowlocks,  and  the  reports 
of  the  rifles.  The  boat  disappeared  in  a  mist 
of  spray  and  moonlight,  and  Clay  turned  and 
faced  about  him.  Langham  and  MacWilliams 
were  crouching  behind  a  rock  and  firing  at  the 
flashes  in  the  woods. 

"You  can't  stay  there,"  Clay  cried.  "We 
must  get  back  to  Hope." 

He  ran  forward,  dodging  from  side  to  side 
and  firing  as  he  ran.  He  heard  shots  from  the 
water,  and  looking  back  saw  that  the  men  in 
the  long-boat  had  ceased  rowing,  and  were 
returning  the  fire  from  the  shore. 

"Come  back,  Hope  is  all  right,"  her  brother 


304  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

called  to  him.  "  I  have  n't  seen  a  shot  within 
a  hundred  yards  of  her  yet,  they  're  firing  from 
the  Custom-house  and  below.  I  think  Mac 's  hit." 

"I'm  not,"  MacWilliam'i  voice  answered 
from  behind  a  rock,  "  but  I  'd  like  to  see  some 
thing  to  shoot  at." 

A  hot  tremor  of  rage  swept  over  Clay  at  the 
thought  of  a  possibly  fatal  termination  to  the 
night's  adventure.  He  groaned  at  the  mockery 
of  having  found  his  life  only  to  lose  it  now, 
when  it  was  more  precious  to  him  than  it  had 
ever  been,  and  to  lose  it  in  a  silly  brawl  with 
semi-savages.  He  cursed  himself  impotcntly 
and  rebelliously  for  a  senseless  fool. 

"Keep  hack,  can't  you  V  "  he  heard  Langham 
calling  to  him  from  the  shore.  "You  're  only 
drawing  the  fire  toward  Hope.  She  's  got  away 
by  now.  She  had  both  the  horses. " 

Langham  and  MacWilliams  started  forward 
to  Clay's  side,  but  the  instant  they  left  the 
shadow  of  the  rock,  the  bullets  threw  up  the 
sand  at  their  feet  and  they  stopped  irresolutely. 
The  moon  showed  the  three  men  outlined 
against  the  white  sand  of  the  beach  as  clearly 
as  though  a  search  light  had  been  turned  upon 
them,  even  while  its  shadows  sheltered  and 
protected  their  assailants.  At  their  backs  the 
open  sea  cut  off  retreat,  and  the  line  of  fire  in 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  305 

front  held  them  in  check.  They  were  as  help 
less  as  chessni3ii  upon  a  board. 

"I  'm  not  going  to  stand  still  to  be  shot  at," 
cried  Mac  Williams.  "  Let 's  hide  or  let 's  run. 
This  isn't  doing  anybody  any  good."  But  no 
one  moved.  They  could  hear  the  singing  of 
the  bullets  as  they  passed  them  whining  in  the 
air  like  a  banjo-string  that  is  being  tightened, 
and  they  knew  they  were  in  equal  danger  from 
those  who  were  firing  from  the  boat. 

"They're  shooting  better,"  said  MacWil- 
liams.  "They'll  reach  us  in  a  minute." 

"They've  reached  me  already,  I  think," 
Langham  answered,  with  suppressed  satisfac 
tion,  "in  the  shoulder.  It's  nothing."  His 
unconcern  was  quite  sincere;  to  a  young  man 
who  had  galloped  through  two  long  halves  of  a 
football  match  on  a  strained  tendon,  a  scratched 
shoulder  was  not  important,  except  as  an 
unsought  honor. 

But  it  was  of  the  most  importance  to  Mac- 
Williams.  He  raised  his  voice  against  the 
men  in  the  woods  in  impotent  fury.  "  Come 
out,  you  cowards,  where  we  can  see  you,"  he 
cried.  "  Come  out  where  I  can  shoot  your 
black  heads  off." 

Clay  had  fired  the  last  cartridge  in  his  rifle, 
and  throwing  it  away  drew  his  revolver. 

20 


306  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

"We  must  either  swim  or  hide,"  he  said. 
"Put  your  heads  down  and  run." 

But  as  he  spoke,  they  saw  the  carriage  plung 
ing  out  of  the  shadow  of  the  woods  and  the 
horses  galloping  toward  them  down  the  beach. 
MacWilliams  gave  a  cheer  of  welcome.  "  Hur 
rah  !  "  he  shouted,  "  it 's  Jos£  coming  for  us. 
He  's  a  good  man.  Well  done,  Josd ! "  he 
called. 

"That's  not  Josd,"  Langham  cried,  doubt 
fully,  peering  through  the  moonlight.  "  Good 
God!  It's  Hope,"  he  exclaimed.  He  waved 
his  hands  frantically  above  his  head.  "  Go 
back,  Hope,"  he  cried,  "go  back!" 

But  the  carriage  did  not  swerve  on  its  way 
toward  them.  They  all  saw  her  now  distinctly. 
She  was  on  the  driver's  box  and  alone,  leaning 
forward  and  lashing  the  horses'  backs  with  the 
whip  and  reins,  and  bending  over  to  avoid  the 
bullets  that  passed  above  her  head.  As  she 
came  down  upon  them,  she  stood  up,  her 
woman's  figure  outlined  clearly  in  the  riding 
habit  she  still  wore.  "Jump  in  when  I  turn," 
she  cried.  "  I  'm  going  to  turn  slowly,  run 
and  jump  in." 

She  bent  forward  again  and  pulled  the  horses 
to  the  right,  and  as  they  obeyed  her,  plunging 
and  tugging  at  their  bits,  as  though  they  knew 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  307 

the  danger  they  were  in,  the  men  threw  them 
selves  at  the  carriage.  Clay  caught  the  hood 
at  the  back,  swung  himself  up,  and  scrambled 
over  the  cushions  and  up  to  the  box  seat.  He 
dropped  down  behind  Hope,  and  reaching  his 
arms  around  her  took  the  reins  in  one  hand,  and 
with  the  other  forced  her  down  to  her  knees 
upon  the  footboard,  so  that,  as  she  knelt,  his 
arms  and  body  protected  her  from  the  bullets 
sent  after  them.  Langham  followed  Clay,  and 
tumbled  into  the  carriage  over  the  hood  at  the 
back,  but  MacWilliams  endeavored  to  vault  in 
from  the  step,  and  missing  his  footing  fell 
under  the  hind  wheel,  so  that  the  weight  of 
the  carriage  passed  over  him,  and  his  head  was 
buried  for  an  instant  in  the  sand.  But  he  was 
on  his  feet  again  before  they  had  noticed  that 
he  was  down,  and  as  he  jumped  for  the  hood, 
Langham  caught  him  by  the  collar  of  his  coat 
and  dragged  him  into  the  seat,  panting  and 
gasping,  and  rubbing  the  sand  from  his  mouth 
and  nostrils.  Clay  turned  the  carriage  at  a 
right  angle  through  the  heavy  sand,  and  still 
standing  with  Hope  crouched  at  his  knees,  he 
raced  back  to  the  woods  into  the  face  of  the 
firing,  with  the  boys  behind  him  answering  it 
from  each  side  of  the  carriage,  so  that  the 
horses  leaped  forward  in  a  frenzy  of  terror, 


308  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

and  dashing  through  the  woods,  passed  into  the 
first  road  that  opened  before  them. 

The  road  into  which  they  had  turned  was 
narrow,  but  level,  and  ran  through  a  forest  of 
banana  palms  that  bent  and  swayed  above  them. 
Langham  and  MacWilliams  still  knelt  in  the 
rear  seat  of  the  carriage,  watching  the  road  on 
the  chance  of  possible  pursuit. 

"  Give  me  some  cartridges,"  said  Langham. 
u  My  belt  is  empty.  What  road  is  this  ?  " 

"  It  is  a  private  road,  I  should  say,  through 
somebody's  banana  plantation.  But  it  must 
cross  the  main  road  somewhere.  It  doesn't 
matter,  we  're  all  right  now.  I  mean  to  take  it 
easy."  MacWilliams  turned  on  his  back  and 
stretched  out  his  legs  on  the  seat  opposite. 

"  Where  do  you  suppose  those  men  sprang 
from  ?  Were  they  following  us  all  the  time  ? " 

"  Perhaps,  or  else  that  message  got  over  the 
wire  before  we  cut  it,  and  they  've  being  lying 
in  wait  for  us.  They  were  probably  watching 
King  and  his  sailors  for  the  last  hour  or  so, 
but  they  did  n't  want  him.  They  wanted  her 
and  the  money.  It  was  pretty  exciting,  was  n't 
it  ?  How 's  your  shoulder  ?  " 

"  It's  a  little  stiff,  thank  you,"  said  Langham. 
He  stood  up  and  by  peering  over  the  hood  could 
just  see  the  top  of  Clay's  sombrero  rising  above 
it  where  he  sat  on  the  back  seat. 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  309 

"  You  and  Hope  all  right  up  there,  Clay  ?"  he 
asked. 

The  top  of  the  sombrero  moved  slightly,  and 
Langham  took  it  as  a  sign  that  all  was  well. 
He  dropped  back  into  his  seat  beside  Mac  Wil 
liams,  and  they  both  breathed  a  long  sigh  of  re 
lief  and  content.  Langham's  wounded  arm  was 
the  one  nearest  Mac  Williams,  and  the  latter 
parted  the  torn  sleeve  and  examined  the  furrow 
across  the  shoulder  with  unconcealed  envy. 

"  I  am  afraid  it  won't  leave  a  scar,"  he  said, 
sympathetically. 

"  Won't  it  ? "  asked  Langham,  in  some  concern. 

The  horses  had  dropped  into  a  walk,  and  the 
beauty  of  the  moonlit  night  put  its  spell  upon 
the  two  boys,  and  the  rustling  of  the  great  leaves 
above  their  heads  stilled  and  quieted  them  so 
that  they  unconsciously  spoke  in  whispers. 

Clay  had  not  moved  since  the  horses  turned 
of  their  own  accord  into  the  valley  of  the  palms. 
He  no  longer  feared  pursuit  nor  any  interrup 
tion  to  their  further  progress.  His  only  sensa 
tion  was  one  of  utter  thankfulness  that  they 
were  all  well  out  of  it,  and  that  Hope  had  been 
the  one  who  had  helped  them  in  their  trouble, 
and  his  dearest  thought  was  that,  whether  she 
wished  or  not,  he  owed  his  safety,  and  possibly 
his  life,  to  her. 


310  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

She  still  crouched  between  his  knees  upon 
the  broad  footboard,  with  her  hands  clasped  in 
front  of  her,  and  looking  ahead  into  the  vista 
of  soft  mysterious  lights  and  dark  shadows  that 
the  moon  cast  upon  the  road.  Neither  of  them 
spoke,  and  as  the  silence  continued  unbroken,  it 
took  a  weightier  significance,  and  at  each  added 
second  of  time  became  more  full  of  meaning. 

The  horses  had  dropped  into  a  tired  walk, 
and  drew  them  smoothly  over  the  white  road ; 
from  behind  the  hood  came  broken  snatches  of 
the  boys'  talk,  and  above  their  heads  the  heavy 
leaves  of  the  palms  bent  and  bowed  as  though 
in  benediction.  A  warm  breeze  from  the  land 
filled  the  air  with  the  odor  of  ripening  fruit  and 
pungent  smells,  and  the  silence  seemed  to  en 
velop  them  and  mark  them  as  the  only  living 
creatures  awake  in  the  brilliant  tropical  night. 

Hope  sank  slowly  back,  and  as  she  did  so, 
her  shoulder  touched  for  an  instant  against 
Clay's  knee ;  she  straightened  herself  and  made 
a  movement  as  though  to  rise.  Her  nearness 
to  him  and  something  in  her  attitude  at  his  feet 
held  Clay  in  a  spell.  He  bent  forward  and  laid 
his  hand  fearfully  upon  her  shoulder,  and  the 
touch  seemed  to  stop  the  blood  in  his  veins  and 
hushed  the  words  upon  his  lips.  Hope  raised 
her  head  slowly  as  though  with  a  great  effort, 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  311 

and  looked  into  his  eyes.  It  seemed  to  him  that 
lie  had  been  looking  into  those  same  eyes  for 
centuries,  as  though  he  had  always  known  them, 
and  the  soul  that  looked  out  of  them  into  his. 
He  bent  his  head  lower,  and  stretching  out  his 
arms  drew  her  to  him,  and  the  eyes  did  not 
waver.  He  raised  her  and  held  her  close  against 
his  breast.  Her  eyes  faltered  and  closed. 

"  Hope,"  he  whispered,  "  Hope."  He  stooped 
lower  and  kissed  her,  and  his  lips  told  her  what 
they  could  not  speak  —  and  they  were  quite 
alone. 


XIV 

AN  hour  later  Langham  rose  with  a  protest 
ing  sigh  and  shook  the  hood  violently. 

"  I  say  ! "  he  called.  "  Are  you  asleep  up 
there  ?  We  '11  never  get  home  at  this  rate. 
Does  n't  Hope  want  to  come  back  here  and  go 
to  sleep?" 

The  carriage  stopped,  and  the  boys  tumbled 
out  and  walked  around  in  front  of  it.  Hope 
sat  smiling  on  the  box-seat.  She  was  appar 
ently  far  from  sleepy,  and  she  was  quite  con 
tented  where  she  was,  she  told  him. 

"  Do  you  know  we  have  n't  had  anything  to 
eat  since  yesterday  at  breakfast?"  asked  Lang- 
ham.  "  Mac  Williams  and  I  are  fainting.  We 
move  that  we  stop  at  the  next  shack  we  come  to, 
and  waken  the  people  up  and  make  them  give 
us  some  supper." 

Hope  looked  aside  at  Clay  and  laughed  softly. 
"  Supper  ?  "  she  said.  "  They  want  supper  !  " 

Their  suffering  did  not  seem  to  impress  Clay 
deeply.  He  sat  snapping  his  whip  at  the  palm- 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  313 

trees  above  him,  and  smiled  happily  in  an  incon 
sequent  and  irritating  manner  at  nothing. 

"  See  here  !  Do  you  know  that  we  are  lost  ? " 
demanded  Langliam,  indignantly,  "  and  starv 
ing  ?  Have  you  any  idea  at  all  where  you  are  ? " 

"  I  have  not,"  said  Clay,  cheerfully.  "  All  I 
know  is  that  a  long  time  ago  there  was  a  revo 
lution  and  a  woman  with  jewels,  who  escaped 
in  an  open  boat,  and  I  recollect  playing  that  I 
was  a  target  and  standing  up  to  be  shot  at  in  a 
bright  light.  After  that  I  woke  up  to  the  really 
important  things  of  life  —  among  which  supper 
is  not  one." 

Langham  and  Mac  Williams  looked  at  each 
other  doubtfully,  and  Langham  shook  his  head. 

"  Get  down  off  that  box,"  he  commanded. 
"  If  you  and  Hope  think  this  is  merely  a  pleas 
ant  moonlight  drive,  we  don't.  You  two  can  sit 
in  the  carriage  now,  and  we'll  take  a  turn  at 
driving,  and  we  '11  guarantee  to  get  you  to  some 
place  soon." 

Clay  and  Hope  descended  meekly  and  seated 
themselves  under  the  hood,  where  they  could 
look  out  upon  the  moonlit  road  as  it  unrolled 
behind  them.  But  they  were  no  longer  to  enjoy 
their  former  leisurely  progress.  The  new  whip 
lashed  his  horses  into  a  gallop,  and  the  trees  flew 
past  them  on  either  hand. 


314  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

"  Do  you  remember  that  chap  in  the  '  Last 
Ride  Together '  ? "  said  Clay. 

"  I  and  my  mistress,  side  by  side, 

Shall  be  together  —  forever  ride, 
And  so  one  more  day  am  I  deified. 

Who  knows  —  the  world  may  end  to-night." 

Hope  laughed  triumphantly,  and  threw  out  her 
arms  as  though  she  would  embrace  the  whole 
beautiful  world  that  stretched  around  them. 

"  Oh,  no,"  she  laughed.  "  To-night  the  world 
has  just  begun." 

The  carriage  stopped,  and  there  was  a  confu 
sion  of  voices  on  the  box-seat,  and  then  a  great 
barking  of  dogs,  and  they  beheld  MacWilliams 
beating  and  kicking  at  the  door  of  a  hut.  The 
door  opened  for  an  inch,  and  there  was  a  long 
debate  in  Spanish,  and  finally  the  door  was 
closed  again,  and  a  light  appeared  through  the 
windows.  A  few  minutes  later  a  man  and 
woman  came  out  of  the  hut,  shivering  and 
yawning,  and  made  a  fire  in  the  sun-baked  oven 
at  the  side  of  the  house.  Hope  and  Clay  re 
mained  seated  in  the  carriage,  and  watched  the 
flames  springing  up  from  the  oily  fagots,  and 
the  boys  moving  about  with  flaring  torches  of 
pine,  pulling  down  bundles  of  fodder  for  the 
horses  from  the  roof  of  the  kitchen,  while  two 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  315 

sleepy  girls  disappeared  toward  a  mountain 
stream,  one  carrying  a  jar  on  her  shoulder, 
and  the  other  lighting  the  way  with  a  torch. 
Hope  sat  with  her  chin  on  her  hand,  watching 
the  black  figures  passing  between  them  and  the 
fire,  and  standing  above  it  with  its  light  on 
their  faces,  shading  their  eyes  from  the  heat 
with  one  hand,  and  stirring  something  in  a 
smoking  caldron  with  the  other.  Hope  felt  an 
overflowing  sense  of  gratitude  to  these  simple 
strangers  for  the  trouble  they  were  taking.  She 
felt  how  good  every  one  was,  and  how  wonder 
fully  kind  and  generous  was  the  world  that  she 
lived  in. 

Her  brother  came  over  to  the  carriage  and 
bowed  with  mock  courtesy. 

"I  trust,  now  that  we  have  done  all  the 
work,"  he  said,  "  that  your  excellencies  will 
condescend  to  share  our  frugal  fare,  or  must  we 
bring  it  to  you  here  ? " 

The  clay  oven  stood  in  the  middle  of  a  hut 
of  laced  twigs,  through  which  the  smoke  drifted 
freely.  There  was  a  row  of  wooden  benches 
around  it,  and  they  all  seated  themselves  and 
ate  ravenously  of  rice  and  fried  plantains,  while 
the  woman  patted  and  tossed  tortillas  between 
her  hands,  eyeing  her  guests  curiously.  Her 
glance  fell  upon  Langham's  shoulder,  and  rested 


316  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

there  for  so  long  that  Hope  followed  the  direc 
tion  of  her  eyes.  She  leaped  to  her  feet  with 
a  cry  of  fear  and  reproach,  and  ran  toward 
her  brother. 

"  Ted  !  "  she  cried,  "  you  are  hurt !  you  are 
wounded,  and  you  never  told  me  !  What  is  it  ? 
Is  it  very  bad  ?  "  Clay  crossed  the  floor  in  a 
stride,  his  face  full  of  concern. 

"  Leave  me  alone  !  "  cried  the  stern  brother, 
backing  away  and  warding  them  off  with  the 
coffee-pot.  "  It 's  only  scratched.  You  '11  spill 
the  coffee." 

But  at  the  sight  of  the  blood  Hope  had  turned 
very  white,  and  throwing  her  arms  around  her 
brother's  neck,  hid  her  eyes  on  his  other  shoul 
der  and  began  to  cry. 

"  I  am  so  selfish,"  she  sobbed.  "  I  have 
been  so  happy  and  you  were  suffering  all  the 
time." 

Her  brother  stared  at  the  others  in  dismay. 
"  What  nonsense,"  he  said,  patting  her  on  the 
shoulder.  "  You  're  a  bit  tired,  and  you  need 
rest.  That's  what  you  need.  The  idea  of  my 
sister  going  off  in  hysterics  after  behaving  like 
such  a  sport  —  and  before  these  young  ladies, 
too.  Are  n't  you  ashamed  ?  " 

"I  should  think  they'd  be  ashamed,"  said 
Mac  Williams,  severely,  as  he  continued  placidly 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  317 

with  his  supper.  "  They  have  n't  got  enough 
clothes  on." 

Langham  looked  over  Hope's  shoulder  at 
Clay  and  nodded  significantly.  "  She 's  been 
on  a  good  deal  of  a  strain,"  he  explained  apolo 
getically,  "  and  no  wonder ;  it 's  been  rather  an 
unusual  night  for  her." 

Hope  raised  her  head  and  smiled  at  him 
through  her  tears.  Then  she  turned  and  moved 
toward  Clay.  She  brushed  her  eyes  with  the 
back  of  her  hand  and  laughed.  "  It  has  been 
an  unusual  night,"  she  said.  u  Shall  I  tell 
him  ?  "  she  asked. 

Clay  straightened  himself  unconsciously,  and 
stepped  beside  her  and  took  her  hand ;  Mac- 
Williams  quickly  lowered  to  the  bench  the  dish 
from  which  he  was  eating,  and  stood  up,  too. 
The  people  of  the  house  stared  at  the  group 
in  the  firelight  with  puzzled  interest,  at  the 
beautiful  young  girl,  and  at  the  tall,  sunburned 
young  man  at  her  side.  Langham  looked  from 
his  sister  to  Clay  and  back  again,  and  laughed 
uneasily. 

"  Langham,  I  have  been  very  bold,"  said  Clay. 
"  I  have  asked  your  sister  to  marry  me  —  and 
she  has  said  that  she  would." 

Langham  flushed  as  red  as  his  sister.  He 
felt  himself  at  a  disadvantage  in  the  presence 


318  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

of  a  love  as  great  and  strong  as  he  knew  this 
must  be.  It  made  him  seem  strangely  young 
and  inadequate.  He  crossed  over  to  his  sister 
awkwardly  and  kissed  her,  and  then  took  Clay's 
hand,  and  the  three  stood  together  and  looked 
at  one  another,  and  there  was  no  sign  of  doubt  or 
question  in  the  face  of  any  one  of  them.  They 
stood  so  for  some  little  time,  smiling  and  ex 
claiming  together,  and  utterly  unconscious  of 
anything  but  their  own  delight  and  happiness. 
Mac  Williams  watched  them,  his  face  puckered 
into  odd  wrinkles  and  his  eyes  half-closed. 
Hope  suddenly  broke  away  from  the  others  and 
turned  toward  him  with  her  hands  held  out. 

"  Have  you  nothing  to  say  to  me,  Mr.  Mac- 
Williams  ?  "  she  asked. 

MacWilliams  looked  doubtfully  at  Clay,  as 
though  from  force  of  habit  he  must  ask  advice 
from  his  chief  first,  and  then  took  the  hands 
that  she  held  out  to  him  and  shook  them  up 
and  down.  His  usual  confidence  seemed  to 
have  forsaken  him,  and  he  stood,  shifting  from 
one  foot  to  the  other,  smiling  and  abashed. 

"  Well,  I  always  said  they  did  n't  make  them 
any  better  than  you,"  he  gasped  at  last.  "  I  was 
always  telling  him  that,  was  n't  I  ? "  He  nodded 
energetically  at  Clay.  "  And  that 's  so ;  they 
don't  make  'em  any  better  than  you." 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  319 

He  dropped  her  hands  and  crossed  over  to 
Clay,  and  stood  surveying  him  with  a  smile  of 
wonder  and  admiration. 

"  How 'd  you  do  it?"  he  demanded.  "How 
did  you  do  it  ?  I  suppose  you  know,"  he  asked 
sternly,  "  that  you  're  not  good  enough  for  Miss 
Hope  ?  You  know  that,  don't  you  ?  " 

"  Of  course  I  know  that,"  said  Clay. 

MacWilliams  walked  toward  the  door  and 
stood  in  it  for  a  second,  looking  back  at  them 
over  his  shoulder.  "  They  don't  make  them  any 
better  than  that,"  he  reiterated  gravely,  and  dis 
appeared  in  the  direction  of  the  horses,  shaking 
his  head  and  muttering  his  astonishment  and 
delight. 

"  Please  give  me  some  money,"  Hope  said  to 
Clay.  "  All  the  money  you  have,"  she  added, 
smiling  at  her  assumption  of  authority  over  him, 
"  and  you,  too,  Ted."  The  men  emptied  their 
pockets,  and  Hope  poured  the  mass  of  silver  into 
the  hands  of  the  women,  who  gazed  at  it  uncom- 
prehendingly. 

"  Thank  you  for  your  trouble  and  your  good 
supper,"  Hope  said  in  Spanish,  "and  may  no 
evil  come  to  your  house." 

The  woman  and  her  daughters  followed  her 
to  the  carriage,  bowing  and  uttering  good  wishes 
in  the  extravagant  metaphor  of  their  country ; 


320  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

and  as  they  drove  away,  Hope  waved  her  hand 
to  them  as  she  sank  closer  against  Clay's 
shoulder. 

"  The  world  is  full  of  such  kind  and  gentle 
souls,"  she  said. 

In  an  hour  they  had  regained  the  main  road, 
and  a  little  later  the  stars  grew  dim  and  the 
moonlight  faded,  and  trees  and  hushes  and  rocks 
began  to  take  substance  and  to  grow  into  form 
and  outline.  They  saw  by  the  cool,  gray  light 
of  the  morning  the  familiar  hills  around  the 
capital,  and  at  a  cry  from  the  boys  on  the  box- 
seat,  they  looked  ahead  and  beheld  the  harbor 
of  Valencia  at  their  feet,  lying  as  placid  and 
undisturbed  as  the  water  in  a  bath-tub.  As 
they  turned  up  the  hill  into  the  road  that  led  to 
the  Palms,  they  saw  the  sleeping  capital  like 
a  city  of  the  dead  below  them,  its  white  buildings 
reddened  with  the  light  of  the  rising  sun.  From 
three  places  in  different  parts  of  the  city,  thick 
columns  of  smoke  rose  lazily  to  the  sky. 

"  I  had  forgotten  !  "  said  Clay  ;  "  they  have 
been  having  a  revolution  here.  It  seems  so  long 
ago." 

By  five  o'clock  they  had  reached  the  gate  of 
the  Palms,  and  their  appearance  startled  the 
sentry  on  post  into  a  state  of  undisciplined  joy. 
A  riderless  pony,  the  one  upon  which  Josd  had 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  321 

made  his  escape  when  the  firing  began,  had 
crept  into  the  stable  an  hour  previous,  stiff  and 
bruised  and  weary,  and  had  led  the  people  at 
the  Palms  to  fear  the  worst. 

Mr.  Lang-ham  and  his  daughter  were  standing 
on  the  veranda  as  the  horses  came  galloping  up 
the  avenue.  They  had  been  awake  all  the  night, 
and  the  face  of  each  was  white  and  drawn  with 
anxiety  and  loss  of  sleep.  Mr.  Langham  caught 
Hope  in  his  arms  and  held  her  face  close  to  his 
in  silence. 

"  Where  have  you  been  ? "  he  said  at  last. 
"  Why  did  you  treat  me  like  this  ?  You  knew 
how  I  would  suffer." 

"  I  could  not  help  it,"  Hope  cried.  "  I  had  to 
go  with  Madame  Alvarez." 

Her  sister  had  suffered  as  acutely  as  had  Mr. 
Langham  himself,  as  long  as  she  was  in  igno 
rance  of  Hope's  whereabouts.  But  now  that 
she  saw  Hope  in  the  flesh  again,  she  felt  a 
reaction  against  her  for  the  anxiety  and  distress 
she  had  caused  them. 

"  My  dear  Hope,"  she  said,  "  is  every  one  to 
be  sacrificed  for  Madame  Alvarez  ?  What  pos 
sible  use  could  you  be  to  her  at  such  a  time  ? 
It  was  not  the  time  nor  the  place  for  a  young 
girl.  You  were  only  another  responsibility  for 
the  men." 

21 


322  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

"  Clay  seemed  willing  to  accept  the  responsi 
bility,"  said  Langham,  without  a  smile.  "  And, 
besides,"  he  added,  "  if  Hope  had  not  been  with 
us  we  might  never  have  reached  home  alive." 

But  it  was  only  after  much  earnest  protest 
and  many  explanations  that  Mr.  Langham  was 
pacified,  and  felt  assured  that  his  son's  wound 
was  not  dangerous,  and  that  his  daughter  was 
quite  safe. 

Miss  Langham  and  himself,  he  said,  had 
passed  a  trying  night.  There  had  been  much 
firing  in  the  city,  and  continual  uproar.  The 
houses  of  several  of  the  friends  of  Alvarez  had 
been  burned  and  sacked.  Alvarez  himself  had 
been  shot  as  soon  as  he  had  entered  the  yard  of 
the  military  prison.  It  was  then  given  out  that 
he  had  committed  suicide.  Mendoza  had  not 
dared  to  kill  Rojas,  because  of  the  feeling  of 
the  people  toward  him,  and  had  even  shown  him 
to  the  mob  from  behind  the  bars  of  one  of  the 
windows  in  order  to  satisfy  them  that  he  was 
still  living.  The  British  Minister  had  sent  to 
the  Palace  for  the  body  of  Captain  Stuart,  and 
had  had  it  escorted  to  the  Legation,  from 
whence  it  would  be  sent  to  England.  This,  as 
far  as  Mr.  Langham  had  heard,  was  the  news  of 
the  night  just  over. 

"  Two  native  officers  called  here  for  you  about 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  323 

midnight,  Clay,"  he  continued,  "  and  they  are 
still  waiting  for  you  below  at  your  office.  They 
came  from  Rojas's  troops,  who  are  encamped 
on  the  hills  at  the  other  side  of  the  city.  They 
wanted  you  to  join  them  with  the  men  from  the 
mines.  I  told  them  I  did  not  know  when  you 
would  return,  and  they  said  they  would  wait. 
If  you  could  have  been  here  last  night,  it  is 
possible  that  we  might  have  done  something, 
but  now  that  it  is  all  over,  I  am  glad  that  you 
saved  that  woman  instead.  I  should  have  liked, 
though,  to  have  struck  one  blow  at  them.  But 
we  cannot  hope  to  win  against  assassins.  The 
death  of  young  Stuart  has  hurt  me  terribly, 
and  the  murder  of  Alvarez,  coming  on  top  of 
it,  has  made  me  wish  I  had  never  heard  of  nor 
seen  Olancho.  I  have  decided  to  go  away  at 
once,  on  the  next  steamer,  and  I  will  take  my 
daughters  with  me,  and  Ted,  too.  The  State 
Department  at  Washington  can  fight  with  Men- 
doza  for  the  mines.  You  made  a  good  stand, 
but  they  made  a  better  one,  and  they  have 
beaten  us.  Mcndoza's  coup  d'etat  has  passed 
into  history,  and  the  revolution  is  at  an  end." 

On  his  arrival  Clay  had  at  once  asked  for  a 
cigar,  and  while  Mr.  Langham  was  speaking  he 
had  been  biting  it  between  his  teeth,  with  the 
serious  satisfaction  of  a  man  who  had  been 


324  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

twelve  hours  without  one.  He  knocked  the 
ashes  from  it  and  considered  the  burning  end 
thoughtfully.  Then  he  glanced  at  Hope  as  she 
stood  among  the  group  on  the  veranda.  She 
was  waiting  for  his  reply  and  watching  him 
intently.  He  seemed  to  be  confident  that  she 
would  approve  of  the  only  course  he  saw  open 
to  him. 

"  The  revolution  is  not  at  an  end  by  any 
means,  Mr.  Langham,"  lie  said  at  last,  simply. 
"  It  has  just  begun."  He  turned  abruptly  and 
walked  away  in  the  direction  of  the  office,  and 
Mac  Williams  and  Langham  stepped  off  the  ve 
randa  and  followed  him  as  a  matter  of  course. 

The  soldiers  in  the  army  who  were  known 
to  be  faithful  to  General  Rojas  belonged  to  the 
Third  and  Fourth  regiments,  and  numbered  four 
thousand  on  paper,  and  two  thousand  by  count 
of  heads.  When  they  had  seen  their  leader 
taken  prisoner,  and  swept  off  the  parade-ground 
by  Mendoza's  cavalry,  they  had  first  attempted 
to  follow  in  pursuit  and  recapture  him,  but  the 
men  on  horseback  had  at  once  shaken  off  the 
men  on  foot  and  left  them,  panting  and  breath 
less,  in  the  dust  behind  them.  So  they  halted 
uncertainly  in  the  road,  and  their  young  officers 
held  counsel  together.  They  first  considered 
the  advisability  of  attacking  the  military  prison, 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  325 

but  decided  against  doing  so,  as  it  would  lead, 
they  feared,  whether  it  proved  successful  or 
not,  to  the  murder  of  Rojas.  It  was  impossible 
to  return  to  the  city  where  Mendoza's  First  and 
Second  regiments  greatly  outnumbered  them. 
Having  no  leader  and  no  headquarters,  the  offi 
cers  marched  the  men  to  the  hills  above  the  city 
and  went  into  camp  to  await  further  developments. 
Throughout  the  night  they  watched  the  illu 
mination  of  the  city  and  of  the  boats  in  the 
harbor  below  them ;  they  saw  the  flames  burst 
ing  from  the  homes  of  the  members  of  Alvarez's 
Cabinet,  and  when  the  morning  broke  they  be 
held  the  grounds  of  the  Palace  swarming  with 
Mendoza's  troops,  and  the  red  and  white  barred 
flag  of  the  revolution  floating  over  it.  The 
news  of  the  assassination  of  Alvarez  and  the 
fact  that  Rojas  had  been  spared  for  fear  of 
the  people,  had  been  carried  to  them  early  in 
the  evening,  and  with  this  knowledge  of  their 
General's  safety  hope  returned  and  fresh  plans 
were  discussed.  By  midnight  they  had  defi 
nitely  decided  that  should  Mendoza  attempt  to 
dislodge  them  the  next  morning,  they  would 
make  a  stand,  but  that  if  the  fight  went  against 
them,  they  would  fall  back  along  the  mountain 
roads  to  the  Valencia  mines,  where  they  hoped 
to  persuade  the  fifteen  hundred  soldiers  there 


326  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

installed  to  join  forces  with  them  against  the 
new  Dictator. 

In  order  to  assure  themselves  of  this  help, 
a  messenger  was  despatched  by  a  circuitous 
route  to  the  Palms,  to  ask  the  aid  of  the 
resident  director,  and  another  was  sent  to  the 
mines  to  work  upon  the  feelings  of  the  soldiers 
themselves.  The  officer  who  had  been  sent  to 
the  Palms  to  petition  Clay  for  the  loan  of  his 
soldier-workmen,  had  decided  to  remain  until 
Clay  returned,  and  another  messenger  had  been 
sent  after  him  from  the  camp  on  the  same 
errand. 

These  two  lieutenants  greeted  Clay  with  en 
thusiasm,  but  he  at  once  interrupted  them,  and 
began  plying  them  with  questions  as  to  where 
their  camp  was  situated  and  what  roads  led 
from  it  to  the  Palms. 

"  Bring  your  men  at  once  to  this  end  of  our 
railroad,"  he  said.  "  It  is  still  early,  and  the 
revolutionists  will  sleep  late.  They  are  drugged 
with  liquor  and  worn  out  with  excitement,  and 
whatever  may  have  been  their  intentions  towards 
you  last  night,  they  will  be  late  in  putting  them 
into  practice  this  morning.  I  will  telegraph 
Kirkland  to  come  up  at  once  with  all  of  his 
soldiers  and  with  his  three  hundred  Irishmen. 
Allowing  him  a  half-hour  to  collect  them  and 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  327 

to  get  his  flat  cars  together,  and  another  half- 
hour  in  which  to  make  the  run,  he  should  be 
here  by  half-past  six  —  and  that 's  quick  mob 
ilization.  You  ride  back  now  and  march  your 
men  here  at  a  double-quick.  With  your  two 
thousand  we  shall  have  in  all  three  thousand 
and  eight  hundred  men.  I  must  have  absolute 
control  over  my  own  troops.  Otherwise  I  shall 
act  independently  of  you  and  go  into  the  city 
alone  with  my  workmen." 

"  That  is  unnecessary,"  said  one  of  the  lieu 
tenants.  "  We  have  no  officers.  If  you  do  not 
command  us,  there  is  no  one  else  to  do  it.  We 
promise  that  our  men  will  follow  you  and  give 
you  every  obedience.  They  have  been  led  by 
foreigners  before,  by  young  Captain  Stuart  and 
Major  Fergurson  and  Colonel  Shrevington. 
They  know  how  highly  General  Rojas  thinks  of 
you,  and  they  know  that  you  have  led  Continen 
tal  armies  in  Europe." 

"  Well,  don't  tell  them  I  have  n't  until  this  is 
over,"  said  Clay.  "  Now,  ride  hard,  gentlemen, 
and  bring  your  men  here  as  quickly  as  possible." 

The  lieutenants  thanked  him  effusively  and 
galloped  away,  radiant  at  the  success  of  their 
mission,  and  Clay  entered  the  office  where  Mac- 
Williams  was  telegraphing  his  orders  to  Kirk- 
land.  He  seated  himself  beside  the  instrument, 


328  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

and  from  time  to  time  answered  the  questions 
Kirkland  sent  back  to  him  over  the  wire,  and  in 
the  intervals  of  silence  thought  of  Hope.  It  was 
the  first  time  he  had  gone  into  action  feeling  the 
touch  of  a  woman's  hand  upon  his  sleeve,  and 
he  was  fearful  lest  she  might  think  he  had  con 
sidered  her  too  lightly. 

He  took  a  piece  of  paper  from  the  table  and 
wrote  a  few  lines  upon  it,  and  then  rewrote  them 
several  times.  The  message  he  finally  sent  to 
her  was  this :  "  I  am  sure  you  understand,  and 
that  you  would  not  have  me  give  up  beaten  now, 
when  what  we  do  to-day  may  set  us  right  again. 
I  know  better  than  any  one  else  in  the  world 
can  know,  what  I  run  the  risk  of  losing,  but  you 
would  not  have  that  fear  stop  me  from  going  on 
with  what  we  have  been  struggling  for  so  long. 
I  cannot  come  back  to  see  you  before  we  start, 
but  I  know  your  heart  is  with  me.  With  great 
love,  Robert  Clay." 

He  gave  the  note  to  his  servant,  and  the 
answer  was  brought  to  him  almost  immediately. 
Hope  had  not  rewritten  her  message :  "  I  love 
you  because  you  are  the  sort  of  man  you  are, 
and  had  you  given  up  as  father  wished  you  to  do, 
or  on  my  account,  you  would  have  been  some 
one  else,  and  I  would  have  had  to  begin  over 
again  to  learn  to  love  you  for  some  different 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  329 

reasons.  I  know  that  you  will  come  back  to  me 
bringing  your  sheaves  with  you.  Nothing  can 
happen  to  you  now.  Hope." 

He  had  never  received  a  line  from  her  before, 
and  he  read  and  reread  this  with  a  sense  of  such 
pride  and  happiness  in  his  face  that  Mac  Williams 
smiled  covertly  and  bent  his  eyes  upon  his  in 
strument.  Clay  went  back  into  his  room  and 
kissed  the  page  of  paper  gently,  flushing  like  a 
boy  as  he  did  so,  and  then  folding  it  carefully, 
he  put  it  away  beneath  his  jacket.  He  glanced 
about  him  guiltily,  although  he  was  quite  alone, 
and  taking  out  his  watch,  pried  it  open  and 
looked  down  into  the  face  of  the  photograph  that 
had  smiled  up  at  him  from  it  for  so  many  years. 
He  thought  how  unlike  it  was  to  Alice  Langham 
as  he  knew  her.  He  judged  that  it  must  have 
been  taken  when  she  was  very  young,  at  the  age 
Hope  was  then,  before  the  little  world  she  lived 
in  had  crippled  and  narrowed  her  and  marked 
her  for  its  own.  He  remembered  what  she  had 
said  to  him  the  first  night  he  had  seen  her. 
"  That  is  the  picture  of  the  girl  who  ceased  to 
exist  four  years  ago,  and  whom  you  have  never 
met."  He  wondered  if  she  had  ever  existed. 

u  It  looks  more  like  Hope  than  her  sister,"  he 
mused.  "  It  looks  very  much  like  Hope."  He 
decided  that  he  would  let  it  remain  where  it  was 


330  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

until  Hope  gave  him  a  better  one ;  and  smiling 
slightly  he  snapped  the  lid  fast,  as  though  he 
were  closing  a  door  on  the  face  of  Alice  Lang- 
ham  and  locking  it  forever. 

Kirkland  was  in  the  cab  of  the  locomotive  that 
brought  the  soldiers  from  the  mine.  He  stopped 
the  first  car  in  front  of  the  freight  station  until 
the  workmen  had  filed  out  and  formed  into  a 
double  line  on  the  platform.  Then  he  moved 
the  train  forward  the  length  of  that  car,  and 
those  in  the  one  following  were  mustered  out  in 
a  similar  manner.  As  the  cars  continued  to 
come  in,  the  men  at  the  head  of  the  double  line 
passed  on  through  the  freight  station  and  on  up 
the  road  to  the  city  in  an  unbroken  column. 
There  was  no  confusion,  no  crowding,  and  no 
haste. 

When  the  last  car  had  been  emptied,  Clay 
rode  down  the  line  and  appointed  a  foreman  to 
take  charge  of  each  company,  stationing  his  en 
gineers  and  the  Irish-Americans  in  the  van.  It 
looked  more  like  a  mob  than  a  regiment.  None 
of  the  men  were  in  uniform,  and  the  native 
soldiers  were  barefoot.  But  they  showed  a  win 
ning  spirit,  and  stood  in  as  orderly  an  array  as 
though  they  were  drawn  up  in  line  to  receive 
their  month's  wages.  The  Americans  in  front 
of  the  column  were  humorously  disposed,  and 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  331 

inclined  to  consider  the  whole  affair  as  a  pleas 
ant  outing.  They  had  been  placed  in  front,  not 
because  they  were  better  shots  than  the  natives, 
but  because  every  South  American  thinks  that 
every  citizen  of  the  United  States  is  a  master 
either  of  the  rifle  or  the  revolver,  and  Clay  was 
counting  on  this  superstition.  His  assistant  en 
gineers  and  foremen  hailed  him  as  he  rode  on  up 
and  down  the  line  with  good-natured  cheers,  and 
asked  him  when  they  were  to  get  their  commis 
sions,  and  if  it  were  true  that  they  were  all  cap 
tains,  or  only  colonels,  as  they  were  at  home. 

They  had  been  waiting  for  a  half-hour,  when 
there  was  the  sound  of  horses'  hoofs  on  the  road, 
and  the  even  beat  of  men's  feet,  and  the  advance 
guard  of  the  Third  and  Fourth  regiments  came 
toward  them  at  a  quickstep.  The  men  were 
still  in  the  full-dress  uniforms  they  had  worn  at 
the  review  the  day  before,  and  in  comparison 
with  the  soldier-workmen  and  the  Americans  in 
flannel  shirts,  they  presented  so  martial  a  show 
ing  that  they  were  welcomed  with  tumultuous 
cheers.  Clay  threw  them  into  a  double  line  on 
one  side  of  the  road,  down  the  length  of  which 
his  own  marched  until  they  had  reached  the  end 
of  it  nearest  to  the  city,  when  they  took  up  their 
position  in  a  close  formation,  and  the  native  regi 
ments  fell  in  behind  them.  Clay  selected  twenty 


332  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

of  the  best  shots  from  among  the  engineers  and 
sent  them  on  ahead  as  a  skirmish  line.  They 
were  ordered  to  fall  back  at  once  if  they  saw  any 
sign  of  the  enemy.  In  this  order  the  column  of 
four  thousand  men  started  for  the  city. 

It  was  a  little  after  seven  when  they  advanced, 
and  the  air  was  mild  and  peaceful.  Men  and 
women  came  crowding  to  the  doors  and  windows 
of  the  huts  as  they  passed,  and  stood  watching 
them  in  silence,  not  knowing  to  which  party  the 
small  army  might  belong.  In  order  to  enlighten 
them,  Clay  shouted,  "Viva  Rojas."  And  his 
men  took  it  up,  and  the  people  answered  gladly. 

They  had  reached  the  closely  built  portion  of 
the  city  when  the  skirmish  line  came  running 
back  to  say  that  it  had  been  met  by  a  detach 
ment  of  Mendoza's  cavalry,  who  had  galloped 
away  as  soon  as  they  saw  them.  There  was 
then  no  longer  any  doubt  that  the  fact  of  their 
coming  was  known  at  the  Palace,  and  Clay 
halted  his  men  in  a  bare  plaza  and  divided  them 
into  three  columns.  Three  streets  ran  parallel 
with  one  another  from  this  plaza  to  the  heart  of 
the  city,  and  opened  directly  upon  the  garden  of 
the  Palace  where  Mendoza  had  fortified  himself. 
Clay  directed  the  columns  to  advance  up  these 
streets,  keeping  the  head  of  each  column  in  touch 
with  the  other  two.  At  the  word  they  were  to 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  333 

pour  down  the  side  streets  and  rally  to  each 
other's  assistance. 

As  they  stood,  drawn  up  on  the  three  sides  of 
the  plaza,  he  rode  out  before  them  and  held  up  his 
hat  for  silence.  .They  were  there  with  arms  in 
their  hands,  he  said,  for  two  reasons  :  the  greater 
one,  and  the  one  which  he  knew  actuated  the 
native  soldiers,  was  their  desire  to  preserve  the 
Constitution  of  the  Republic.  According  to 
their  own  laws,  the  Vice-President  must  succeed 
when  the  President's  term  of  office  had  expired, 
or  in  the  event  of  his  death.  President  Alvarez 
had  been  assassinated,  and  the  Vice-President, 
General  Rojas,  was,  in  consequence,  his  legal 
successor.  It  was  their  duty,  as  soldiers  of  the 
Republic,  to  rescue  him  from  prison,  to  drive  the 
man  who  had  usurped  his  place  into  exile,  and 
by  so  doing  uphold  the  laws  which  they  had 
themselves  laid  down.  The  second  motive,  he 
went  on,  was  a  less  worthy  and  more  selfish  one. 
The  Olancho  mines,  which  now  gave  work  to 
thousands  and  brought  millions  of  dollars  into 
the  country,  were  coveted  by  Mendoza,  who 
would,  if  he  could,  convert  them  into  a  monopoly 
of  his  government.  If  he  remained  in  power  all 
foreigners  would  be  driven  out  of  the  country, 
and  the  soldiers  would  be  forced  to  work  in  the 
mines  without  payment.  Their  condition  would 


334  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

be  little  better  than  that  of  the  slaves  in  the  salt 
mines  of  Siberia.  Not  only  would  they  no 
longer  be  paid  for  their  labor,  but  the  people  as  a 
whole  would  cease  to  receive  that  share  of  the 
earnings  of  the  mines  which  had  hitherto  been 
theirs. 

"  Under  President  Rojas  you  will  have  liberty, 
justice,  and  prosperity,"  Clay  cried.  "  Under 
Mendoza  you  will  be  ruled  by  martial  law.  He 
will  rob  and  overtax  you,  and  you  will  live 
through  a  reign  of  terror.  Between  them  — 
which  will  you  choose  ? " 

The  native  soldiers  answered  by  cries  of 
"  Rojas,"  and  breaking  ranks  rushed  across  the 
plaza  towards  him,  crowding  around  his  horse 
and  shouting,  "  Long  live  Rojas,"  "  Long  live  the 
Constitution,"  "  Death  to  Mendoza."  The  Amer 
icans  stood  as  they  were  and  gave  three  cheers 
for  the  Government. 

They  were  still  cheering  and  shouting  as  they 
advanced  upon  the  Palace,  and  the  noise  of  their 
coming  drove  the  people  indoors,  so  that  they 
marched  through  deserted  streets  and  between 
closed  doors  and  sightless  windows.  No  one 
opposed  them,  and  no  one  encouraged  them. 
But  they  could  now  see  the  fagade  of  the  Palace 
and  the  flag  of  the  Revolutionists  hanging  from 
the  mast  in  front  of  it. 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  335 

Three  blocks  distant  from  the  Palace  they 
came  upon  the  buildings  of  the  United  States 
and  English  Legations,  where  the  flags  of  the 
two  countries  had  been  hung  out  over  the  narrow 
thoroughfare.  The  windows  and  the  roofs  of 
each  legation  were  crowded  with  women  and 
children  who  had  sought  refuge  there,  and  the 
column  halted  as  Weimer,  the  Consul,  and  Sir 
Julian  Pindar,  the  English  Minister,  came  out, 
bare-headed,  into  the  street  and  beckoned  to 
Clay  to  stop. 

"  As  our  Minister  was  not  here,"  Weimer  said, 
"  I  telegraphed  to  Truxillo  for  the  man-of-war 
there.  She  started  some  time  ago,  and  we  have 
just  heard  that  she  is  entering  the  lower  harbor. 
She  should  have  her  blue-jackets  on  shore  in 
twenty  minutes.  Sir  Julian  and  I  think  you 
ought  to  wait  for  them." 

The  English  Minister  put  a  detaining  hand  on 
Clay's  bridle.  "  If  you  attack  Mendoza  at  the 
Palace  with  this  mob,"  he  remonstrated,  "  riot 
ing  and  lawlessness  generally  will  break  out  all 
over  the  city.  I  ask  you  to  keep  them  back 
until  we  get  your  sailors  to  police  the  streets 
and  protect  property." 

Clay  glanced  over  his  shoulder  at  the  engi 
neers  and  the  Irish  workmen  standing  in  solemn 
array  behind  him.  "  Oh,  you  can  hardly  call 


336  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

this  a  mob,"  he  said.  "  They  look  a  little  rough 
and  ready,  but  I  will  answer  for  them.  The 
two  other  columns  that  are  coming  up  the  street 
parallel  to  this  are  Government  troops  and 
properly  engaged  in  driving  an  usurper  out  of 
the  Government  building.  The  best  thing  you 
can  do  is  to  get  down  to  the  wharf  and  send  the 
marines  and  blue-jackets  where  you  think  they 
will  do  the  most  good.  I  can't  wait  for  them. 
And  they  can't  come  too  soon." 

The  grounds  of  the  Palace  occupied  two  entire 
blocks ;  the  Botanical  Gardens  were  in  the  rear, 
and  in  front  a  series  of  low  terraces  ran  down 
from  its  veranda  to  the  high  iron  fence  which 
separated  the  grounds  from  the  chief  thorough 
fare  of  the  city. 

Clay  sent  word  to  the  left  and  right  wing  of 
his  little  army  to  make  a  detour  one  street 
distant  from  the  Palace  grounds  and  form  in 
the  street  in  the  rear  of  the  Botanical  Gardens. 
When  they  heard  the  firing  of  his  men  from  the 
front  they  were  to  force  their  way  through  the 
gates  at  the  back  and  attack  the  Palace  in  the 
rear. 

"Mendoza  has  the  place  completely  barri 
caded,"  Weimer  warned  him,  "  and  he  has  three 
field  pieces  covering  each  of  these  streets.  You 
and  your  men  are  directly  in  line  of  one  of  them 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  337 

now.     He  is  only  waiting  for  you  to  get  a  little 
nearer  before  he  lets  loose." 

From  where  he  sat  Clay  could  count  the  bars 
of  the  iron  fence  in  front  of  the  grounds.  But 
the  boards  that  backed  them  prevented  his 
forming  any  idea  of  the  strength  or  the  dis 
tribution  of  Mendoza's  forces.  He  drew  his 
staff  of  amateur  officers  to  one  side  and  ex 
plained  the  situation  to  them. 

"  The  Theatre  National  and  the  Club  Union," 
he  said,  "  face  the  Palace  from  the  opposite 
corners  of  this  street.  You  must  get  into  them 
and  barricade  the  windows  and  throw  up  some 
sort  of  shelter  for  yourselves  along  the  edge  of 
the  roofs  and  drive  the  men  behind  that  fence 
back  to  the  Palace.  Clear  them  away  from  the 
cannon  first,  and  keep  them  away  from  it.  I 
will  be  waiting  in  the  street  below.  When  you 
have  driven  them  back,  we  will  charge  the  gates 
and  have  it  out  with  them  in  the  gardens.  The 
Third  and  Fourth  regiments  ought  to  take  them 
in  the  rear  about  the  same  time.  You  will  con 
tinue  to  pick  them  off  from  the  roof." 

The  two  supporting  columns  had  already 
started  on  their  roundabout  way  to  the  rear  of 
the  Palace.  Clay  gathered  up  his  reins,  and 
telling  his  men  to  keep  close  to  the  walls,  started 
forward,  his  soldiers  following  on  the  sidewalks 
22 


338  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

and  leaving  the  middle  of  the  street  clear.  As 
they  reached  a  point  a  hundred  yards  below 
the  Palace,  a  part  of  the  wooden  shield  behind 
the  fence  was  thrown  down,  there  was  a  puff 
of  white  smoke  and  a  report,  and  a  cannon-ball 
struck  the  roof  of  a  house  which  they  were  pass 
ing  and  sent  the  tiles  clattering  about  their 
heads.  But  the  men  in  the  lead  had  already 
reached  the  stage-door  of  the  theatre  and  were 
opposite  one  of  the  doors  to  the  club.  They 
drove  these  in  with  the  butts  of  their  rifles,  and 
raced  up  the  stairs  of  each  of  the  deserted 
buildings  until  they  reached  the  roof.  Langham 
was  swept  by  a  weight  of  men  across  a  stage, 
and  jumped  among  the  music  racks  in  the 
orchestra.  He  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  early 
morning  sun  shining  on  the  tawdry  hangings  of 
the  boxes  and  the  exaggerated  perspective  of 
the  scenery.  He  ran  through  corridors  between 
two  great  statues  of  Comedy  and  Tragedy,  and 
up  a  marble  staircase  to  a  lobby  in  which  he 
saw  the  white  faces  about  him  multiplied  in 
long  mirrors,  and  so  out  to  an  iron  balcony  from 
which  he  looked  down,  panting  and  breathless, 
upon  the  Palace  Gardens,  swarming  with  soldiers 
and  white  with  smoke.  Men  poured  through 
the  windows  of  the  club  opposite,  dragging  sofas 
and  chairs  out  to  the  balcony  and  upon  the  flat 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  339 

roof.  The  men  near  him  were  tearing  down 
the  yellow  silk  curtains  in  the  lobby  and  draping 
them  along  the  railing  of  the  balcony  to  better 
conceal  their  movements  from  the  enemy  below. 
Bullets  spattered  the  stucco  about  their  heads, 
and  panes  of  glass  broke  suddenly  and  fell  in 
glittering  particles  upon  their  shoulders.  The 
firing  had  already  begun  from  the  roofs  near 
them.  Beyond  the  club  and  the  theatre  and  far 
along  the  street  on  each  side  of  the  Palace  the 
merchants  were  slamming  the  iron  shutters  of 
their  shops,  and  men  and  women  were  running 
for  refuge  up  the  high  steps  of  the  church 
of  Santa  Maria.  Others  were  gathered  in 
black  masses  on  the  balconies  and  roofs  of  the 
more  distant  houses,  where  they  stood  outlined 
against  the  soft  blue  sky  in  gigantic  silhouette. 
Their  shouts  of  encouragement  and  anger  carried 
clearly  in  the  morning  air,  and  spurred  on 
the  gladiators  below  to  greater  effort.  In  the 
Palace  Gardens  a  line  of  Mendoza's  men  fought 
from  behind  the  first  barricade,  while  others 
dragged  tables  and  bedding  and  chairs  across 
the  green  terraces  and  tumbled  them  down  to 
those  below,  who  seized  them  and  formed  them 
into  a  second  line  of  defence. 

Two  of  the  assistant  engineers  were  kneeling 
at  Langham's   feet   with   the   barrels   of  their 


340  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

rifles  resting  on  the  railing  of  the  balcony. 
Their  eyes  had  been  trained  for  years  to  judge 
distances  and  to  measure  space,  and  they  glanced 
along  the  sights  of  their  rifles  as  though  they 
were  looking  through  the  lens  of  a  transit,  and 
at  each  report  their  faces  grew  more  earnest 
and  their  lips  pressed  tighter  together.  One 
of  them  lowered  his  gun  to  light  a  cigarette, 
and  Langham  handed  him  his  match-box,  with 
a  certain  feeling  of  repugnance. 

"  Better  get  under  cover,  Mr.  Langham,"  the 
man  said,  kindly.  "  There  's  no  use  our  keep 
ing  your  mines  for  you  if  you  're  not  alive  to 
enjoy  them.  Take  a  shot  at  that  crew  around 
the  gun." 

u  I  don't  like  this  long  range  business,"  Lang- 
ham  answered.  "  I  am  going  down  to  join  Clay. 
I  don't  like  the  idea  of  hitting  a  man  when  he 
is  n't  looking  at  you." 

The  engineer  gave  an  incredulous  laugh. 

"  If  he  is  n't  looking  at  you,  he  's  aiming  at 
the  man  next  to  you.  '  Live  and  let  Live ' 
does  n't  apply  at  present." 

As  Langham  reached  Clay's  side  triumphant 
shouts  arose  from  the  roof-tops,  and  the  men 
posted  there  stood  up  and  showed  themselves 
above  the  barricades  and  called  to  Clay  that  the 
cannon  were  deserted. 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  341 

Kirkland  had  come  prepared  for  the  barricade, 
and,  running  across  the  street,  fastened  a  dyna 
mite  cartridge  to  each  gate  post  and  lit  the  fuses. 
The  soldiers  scattered  before  him  as  he  came 
leaping  back,  and  in  an  instant  later  there  was 
a  racking  roar,  and  the  gates  were  pitched  out 
of  their  sockets  and  thrown  forward,  and  those 
in  the  street  swept  across  them  and  surrounded 
the  cannon. 

Langham  caught  it  by  the  throat  as  though  it 
were  human,  and  did  not  feel  the  hot  metal 
burning  the  palms  of  his  hands  as  he  choked  it 
and  pointed  its  muzzle  toward  the  Palace,  while 
the  others  dragged  at  the  spokes  of  the  wheel. 
It  was  fighting  at  close  range  now,  close  enough 
to  suit  even  Langham.  He  found  himself  in  the 
front  rank  of  it  without  knowing  exactly  how  he 
got  there.  Every  man  on  both  sides  was  playing 
his  own  hand,  and  seemed  to  know  exactly  what 
to  do.  He  felt  neglected  and  very  much  alone, 
and  was  somewhat  anxious  lest  his  valor  might 
be  wasted  through  his  not  knowing  how  to  put 
it  to  account.  He  saw  the  enemy  in  changing 
groups  of  scowling  men,  who  seemed  to  eye  him 
for  an  instant  down  the  length  of  a  gun-barrel 
and  then  disappear  behind  a  puff  of  smoke.  He 
kept  thinking  that  war  made  men  take  strange 
liberties  with  their  fellow-men,  and  it  struck  him 


342  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

as  being  most  absurd  that  strangers  should  stand 
up  and  try  to  kill  one  another,  men  who  had  so 
little  in  common  that  they  did  not  even  know 
one  another's  names.  The  soldiers  who  were 
fighting  on  his  own  side  were  equally  unknown 
to  him,  and  he  looked  in  vain  for  Clay.  He  saw 
MacWilliams  for  a  moment  through  the  smoke, 
jabbing  at  a  jammed  cartridge  with  his  pen 
knife,  and  hacking  the  lead  away  to  make  it  slip. 
He  was  remonstrating  with  the  gun  and  swear 
ing  at  it  exactly  as  though  it  were  human,  and 
as  Langham  ran  toward  him  he  threw  it  away 
and  caught  up  another  from  the  ground.  Kneel 
ing  beside  the  wounded  man  who  had  dropped 
it  and  picking  the  cartridges  from  his  belt,  he 
assured  him  cheerfully  that  he  was  not  so  badly 
hurt  as  he  thought. 

"  You  all  right  ? "  Langham  asked. 

"  I  'm  all  right.  I  'm  trying  to  get  a  little 
laddie  hiding  behind  that  blue  silk  sofa  over 
there.  He 's  taken  an  unnatural  dislike  to  me, 
and  he 's  nearly  got  me  three  times.  I  'm  knock 
ing  horse-hair  out  of  his  rampart,  though." 

The  men  of  Stuart's  body-guard  were  fighting 
outside  of  the  breastworks  and  mattresses. 
They  were  using  their  swords  as  though  they 
were  machetes,  and  the  Irishmen  were  swinging 
their  guns  around  their  shoulders  like  sledge- 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  343 

hammers,  and  beating  their  foes  over  the  head 
and  breast.  The  gnns  at  his  own  side  sounded 
close  at  Langham's  ear,  and  deafened  him,  and 
those  of  the  enemy  exploded  so  near  to  his  face 
that  he  was  kept  continually  winking  and  dodg 
ing,  as  though  he  were  being  taken  by  a  flash 
light  photograph.  When  he  fired  he  aimed 
where  the  mass  was  thickest,  so  that  he  might 
not  see  what  his  bullet  did,  but  he  remembered 
afterward  that  he  always  reloaded  with  the  most 
anxious  swiftness  in  order  that  he  might  not  be 
killed  before  he  had  had  another  shot,  and  that 
the  idea  of  being  killed  was  of  no  concern  to 
him  except  on  that  account.  Then  the  scene 
before  him  changed,  and  apparently  hundreds  of 
Mendoza's  soldiers  poured  out  from  the  Palace 
and  swept  down  upon  him,  cheering  as  they 
came,  and  he  felt  himself  falling  back  naturally 
and  as  a  matter  of  course,  as  he  would  have 
stepped  out  of  the  way  of  a  locomotive,  or  a  run 
away  horse,  or  any  other  unreasoning  thing. 
His  shoulders  pushed  against  a  mass  of  shouting, 
sweating  men,  who  in  turn  pressed  back  upon 
others,  until  the  mass  reached  the  iron  fence  and 
could  move  no  further.  He  heard  Clay's  voice 
shouting  to  them,  and  saw  him  run  forward, 
shooting  rapidly  as  he  ran,  and  he  followed  him, 
even  though  his  reason  told  him  it  was  a  useless 


344  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

thing  to  do,  and  then  there  came  a  great  shout 
from  the  rear  of  the  Palace,  and  more  soldiers, 
dressed  exactly  like  the  others,  rushed  through 
the  great  doors  and  swarmed  around  the  two 
wings  of  the  building,  and  he  recognized  them 
as  Rojas's  men  and  knew  that  the  fight  was 
over. 

He  saw  a  tall  man  with  a  negro's  face  spring 
out  of  the  first  mass  of  soldiers  and  shout  to 
them  to  follow  him.  Clay  gave  a  yell  of  wel 
come  and  ran  at  him,  calling  upon  him  in  Span 
ish  to  surrender.  The  negro  stopped  and  stood 
at  bay,  glaring  at  Clay  and  at  the  circle  of 
soldiers  closing  in  around  him.  He  raised  his 
revolver  and  pointed  it  steadily.  It  was  as 
though  the  man  knew  he  had  only  a  moment 
to  live,  and  meant  to  do  that  one  thing  well 
in  the  short  time  left  him. 

Clay  sprang  to  one  side  and  ran  towards 
him,  dodging  to  the  right  and  left,  but  Men- 
doza  followed  his  movements  carefully  with  his 
revolver. 

It  lasted  but  an  instant.  Then  the  Spaniard 
threw  his  arm  suddenly  across  his  face,  drove 
the  heel  of  his  boot  into  the  turf,  and  spinning 
about  on  it  fell  forward. 

"  If  he  was  shot  where  his  sash  crosses  his 
heart,  I  know  the  man  who  did  it,"  Langham 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  345 

heard  a  voice  say  at  his  elbow,  and  turning  saw 
Mac  Williams  wetting  his  finger  at  his  lips  and 
touching  them  gingerly  to  the  heated  barrel  of 
his  Winchester. 

The  death  of  Mendoza  left  his  followers  with 
out  a  leader  and  without  a  cause.  They  threw 
their  muskets  on  the  ground  and  held  their 
hands  above  their  heads,  shrieking  for  mercy. 
Clay  and  his  officers  answered  them  instantly 
by  running  from  one  group  to  another,  knocking 
up  the  barrels  of  the  rifles  and  calling  hoarsely 
to  the  men  on  the  roofs  to  cease  firing,  and  as 
they  were  obeyed  the  noise  of  the  last  few  ran 
dom  shots  was  drowned  in  tumultuous  cheering 
and  shouts  of  exultation,  that,  starting  in  the 
gardens,  were  caught  up  by  those  in  the  streets 
and  passed  on  quickly  as  a  line  of  flame  along 
the  swaying  housetops. 

The  native  officers  sprang  upon  Clay  and 
embraced  him  after  their  fashion,  hailing  him 
as  the  Liberator  of  Olancho,  as  the  Preserver 
of  the  Constitution,  and  their  brother  patriot. 
Then  one  of  them  climbed  to  the  top  of  a  gilt 
and  marble  table  and  proclaimed  him  military 
President. 

"  You  '11  proclaim  yourself  an  idiot,  if  you 
don't  get  down  from  there,"  Clay  said,  laughing. 
"  I  thank  you  for  permitting  me  to  serve  with 


346  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

you,  gentlemen.  I  shall  have  great  pleasure  in 
telling  our  President  how  well  you  acquitted 
yourself  in  this  row  —  battle,  I  mean.  And 
now  I  would  suggest  that  you  store  the  prison 
ers'  weapons  in  the  Palace  and  put  a  guard  over 
them,  and  then  conduct  the  men  themselves  to 
the  military  prison,  where  you  can  release  Gen 
eral  Rojas  and  escort  him  back  to  the  city  in  a 
triumphal  procession.  You  'd  like  that,  would  n't 
you?" 

But  the  natives  protested  that  that  honor  was 
for  him  alone.  Clay  declined  it,  pleading  that 
he  must  look  after  his  wounded. 

"  I  can  hardly  believe  there  are  any  dead,"  he 
said  to  Kirkland.  "  For,  if  it  takes  two  thou 
sand  bullets  to  kill  a  man  in  European  warfare, 
it  must  require  about  two  hundred  thousand  to 
kill  a  man  in  South  America." 

He  told  Kirkland  to  march  his  men  back  to 
the  mines  and  to  see  that  there  were  no  strag 
glers.  "If  they  want  to  celebrate,  let  them 
celebrate  when  they  get  to  the  mines,  but  not 
here.  They  have  made  a  good  record  to-day 
and  I  won't  have  it  spoiled  by  rioting.  They 
shall  have  their  reward  later.  Between  Rojas 
and  Mr.  Langham  they  should  all  be  rich 
men." 

The   cheering  from  the  housetops  since  the 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  347 

firing  ceased  had  changed  suddenly  into  hand- 
clappings,  and  the  cries,  though  still  undistin- 
guishable,  were  of  a  different  sound.  Clay  saw 
that  the  Americans  on  the  balconies  of  the  club 
and  of  the  theatre  had  thrown  themselves  far 
over  the  railings  and  were  all  looking  in  the 
same  direction  and  waving  their  hats  and  cheer 
ing  loudly,  and  he  heard  above  the  shouts  of  the 
people  the  regular  tramp  of  men's  feet  march 
ing  in  step,  and  the  rattle  of  a  machine  gun  as 
it  bumped  and  shook  over  the  rough  stones. 
He  gave  a  shout  of  pleasure,  and  Kirkland  and 
the  two  boys  ran  with  him  up  the  slope,  crowd 
ing  each  other  to  get  a  better  view.  The  mob 
parted  at  the  Palace  gates,  and  they  saw  two 
lines  of  blue-jackets,  spread  out  like  the  sticks 
of  a  fan,  dragging  the  gun  between  them,  the 
middies  in  their  tight-buttoned  tunics  and  gait 
ers,  and  behind  them  more  blue-jackets  with 
bare,  bronzed  "throats,  and  with  the  swagger  and 
roll  of  the  sea  in  their  legs  and  shoulders.  An 
American  flag  floated  above  the  white  helmets 
of  the  marines.  Its  presence  and  the  sense  of 
pride  which  the  sight  of  these  men  from  home 
awoke  in  them  made  the  fight  just  over  seem 
mean  and  petty,  and  they  took  off  their  hats 
and  cheered  with  the  others. 

A  first  lieutenant,  who   felt  his   importance 


348  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

and  also  a  sense  of  disappointment  at  having 
arrived  too  late  to  see  the  fighting,  left  his  men 
at  the  gate  of  the  Palace,  and  advanced  up  the 
terrace,  stopping  to  ask  for  information  as  he 
came.  Each  group  to  which  he  addressed  him 
self  pointed  to  Clay.  The  sight  of  his  own  flag- 
had  reminded  Clay  that  the  banner  of  Mendoza 
still  hung  from  the  mast  beside  which  he  was 
standing,  and  as  the  officer  approached  he  was 
busily  engaged  in  untwisting  its  halyards  and 
pulling  it  down. 

The  lieutenant  saluted  him  doubtfully. 

"  Can  you  tell  me  who  is  in  command  here  ?" 
he  asked.  He  spoke  somewhat  sharply,  for 
Clay  was  not  a  military  looking  personage, 
covered  as  he  was  with  dust  and  perspiration, 
and  with  his  sombrero  on  the  back  of  his  head. 

"  Our  Consul  here  told  us  at  the  landing- 
place,"  continued  the  lieutenant  in  an  aggrieved 
tone,  "  that  a  General  Mendoza  was  in  power, 
and  that  I  had  better  report  to  him,  and  then 
ten  minutes  later  I  hear  that  he  is  dead  and 
that  a  General  Rojas  is  President,  but  that  a 
man  named  Clay  has  made  himself  Dictator. 
My  instructions  are  to  recognize  no  belligerents, 
but  to  report  to  the  Government  party.  Now, 
who  is  the  Government  party  ? " 

Clay  brought  the  red-barred  flag  down  with 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  349 

a  jerk,  and  ripped  it  free  from  the  halyards. 
Kirkland  and  the  two  boys  were  watching  him 
with  amused  smiles. 

"  I  appreciate  your  difficulty,"  he  said.  "  Presi 
dent  Alvarez  is  dead,  and  General  Mendoza, 
who  tried  to  make  himself  Dictator,  is  also 
dead,  and  the  real  President,  General  Rojas, 
is  still  in  jail.  So  at  present  I  suppose  that  I 
represent  the  Government  party,  at  least  I  am 
the  man  named  Clay.  It  had  n't  occurred  to 
me  before,  but,  until  Rojas  is  free,  I  guess  I 
am  the  Dictator  of  Olancho.  Is  Madame  Alvarez 
on  board  your  ship  ?  " 

"  Yes,  she  is  with  us,"  the  officer  replied,  in 
some  confusion.  "Excuse  me — ^are  you  the 
three  gentlemen  who  took  her  to  the  yacht  ? 
I  am  afraid  I  spoke  rather  hastily  just  now, 
but  you  are  not  in  uniform,  and  the  Govern 
ment  seems  to  change  so  quickly  down  here 
that  a  stranger  finds  it  hard  to  keep  up  with 
it." 

Six  of  the  native  officers  had  approached 
as  the  lieutenant  was  speaking  and  saluted 
Clay  gravely.  u  We  have  followed  your  in 
structions,"  one  of  them  said,  "  and  the  regi 
ments  are  ready  to  march  with  the  prisoners. 
Have  you  any  further  orders  for  us  —  can  we 
deliver  any  messages  to  General  Rojas  ? " 


350  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

"  Present  my  congratulations  to  General  Rojas, 
and  best  wishes,"  said  Clay.  "  And  tell  him 
for  me,  that  it  would  please  me  greatly  if  he 
would  liberate  an  American  citizen  named  Burke? 
who  is  at  present  in  the  cuartel.  And  that  I 
wish  him  to  promote  all  of  you  gentlemen  one 
grade  and  give  each  of  you  the  Star  of  Olancho. 
Tell  him  that  in  my  opinion  you  have  deserved 
even  higher  reward  and  honor  at  his  hands." 

The  boy-lieutenants  broke  out  into  a  chorus 
of  delighted  thanks.  They  assured  Clay  that 
he  was  most  gracious ;  that  he  overwhelmed 
them,  and  that  it  was  honor  enough  for  them 
that  they  had  served  under  him.  But  Clay 
laughed,  and  drove  them  off  with  a  paternal 
wave  of  the  hand. 

The  officer  from  the  man-of-war  listened  with 
an  uncomfortable  sense  of  having  blundered  in 
his  manner  toward  this  powder-splashed  young 
man  who  set  American  citizens  at  liberty, 
and  created  captains  by  the  half-dozen  at  a 
time. 

"  Are  you  from  the  States  ?  "  he  asked  as 
they  moved  toward  the  man-of-war's  men. 

"  I  am,  thank  God.     Why  not  ? " 

"  I  thought  you  were,  but  you  saluted  like 
an  Englishman." 

"  I  was  an  officer  in  the  English  army  once 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  351 

in  the  Soudan,  when  they  were  short  of  officers." 
Clay  shook  his  head  and  looked  wistfully  at  the 
ranks  of  the  blue-jackets  drawn  up  on  either 
side  of  them.  The  horses  had  been  brought 
out  and  Langham  and  MacWilliams  were  wait 
ing  for  him  to  mount.  "  I  have  worn  several 
uniforms  since  I  was  a  boy,"  said  Clay.  "  But 
never  that  of  my  own  country." 

The  people  were  cheering  him  from  every 
part  of  the  square.  Women  waved  their  hands 
from  balconies  and  housetops,  and  men  climbed 
to  awnings  and  lampposts  and  shouted  his  name. 
The  officers  and  men  of  the  landing  party  took 
note  of  him  and  of  this  reception  out  of  the 
corner  of  their  eyes,  and  wondered. 

"  And  what  had  I  better  do  ?"  asked  the  com 
manding  officer. 

"  Oh,  I  would  police  the  Palace  grounds,  if  I 
were  you,  and  picket  that  street  at  the  right, 
where  there  are  so  many  wine  shops,  and  pre 
serve  order  generally  until  Rojas  gets  here.  He 
won't  be  more  than  an  hour,  now.  We  shall  be 
coming  over  to  pay  our  respects  to  your  captain 
to-morrow.  Glad  to  have  met  you." 

"  Well,  I'm  glad  to  have  met  you,"  answered 
the  officer,  heartily.  "  Hold  on  a  minute.  Even 
if  you  haven't  worn  our  uniform,  you're  as 
good,  and  better,  than  some  I  've  seen  that  have, 


352  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

and  you  're  a  sort  of  a  commander-in-chief ,  any 
way,  and  I  'm  damned  if  I  don't  give  you  a  sort 
of  salute." 

Clay  laughed  like  a  boy  as  he  swung  himself 
into  the  saddle.  The  officer  stepped  back  and 
gave  the  command  ;  the  middies  raised  their 
swords  and  Clay  passed  between  massed  rows  of 
his  countrymen  with  their  muskets  held  rigidly 
toward  him.  The  housetops  rocked  again  at 
the  sight,  and  as  he  rode  out  into  the  brilliant 
sunshine,  his  eyes  were  wet  and  winking. 

The  two  boys  had  drawn  up  at  his  side,  but 
MacWilliama  had  turned  in  the  saddle  and  was 
still  looking  toward  the  Palace,  with  his  hand 
resting  on  the  hindquarters  of  his  pony. 

"  Look  back,  Clay,"  he  said.  "  Take  a  last 
look  at  it,  you'll  never  see  it  after  to-day.  Turn 
again,  turn  again,  Dictator  of  Olancho." 

The  men  laughed  and  drew  rein  as  he  bade 
them,  and  looked  back  up  the  narrow  street. 
They  saw  the  green  and  white  flag  of  Olancho 
creeping  to  the  top  of  the  mast  before  the  Pal 
ace,  the  blue-jackets  driving  back  the  crowd,  the 
gashes  in  the  walls  of  the  houses,  where  Men- 
doza's  cannon-balls  had  dug  their  way  through 
the  stucco,  and  the  silk  curtains,  riddled  with 
bullets,  flapping  from  the  balconies  of  the  opera- 
house. 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  353 

"  You  had  it  all  your  own  way  an  hour  ago," 
Mac  Williams  said,  mockingly.  "  You  could 
have  sent  Rojas  into  exile,  and  made  us  all 
Cabinet  Ministers  —  and  you  gave  it  up  for  a 
girl.  Now,  you  're  Dictator  of  Olancho.  What 
will  you  be  to-morrow  ?  To-morrow  you  will  be 
Andrew  Langham's  son-in-law  —  Benedict,  the 
married  man.  Andrew  Langham's  son-in-law 
cannot  ask  his  wife  to  live  in  such  a  hole  as 
this,  so  —  Good-bye,  Mr.  Clay.  We  have  been 
long  together." 

Clay  and  Langham  looked  curiously  at  the  boy 
to  see  if  he  were  in  earnest,  but  Mac  Williams 
would  not  meet  their  eyes. 

"  There  were  three  of  us,"  he  said,  "  and  one 
got  shot,  and  one  got  married,  and  the  third  —  ? 
You  will  grow  fat,  Clay,  and  live  on  Fifth 
Avenue  and  wear  a  high  silk  hat,  and  some  day 
when  you  're  sitting  in  your  club  you  '11  read  a 
paragraph  in  a  newspaper  with  a  queer  Spanish 
date-line  to  it,  and  this  will  all  come  back  to 
you, —  this  heat,  and  the  palms,  and  the  fever, 
and  the  days  when  you  lived  on  plantains  and 
we  watched  our  trestles  grow  out  across  the 
canons,  and  you  '11  be  willing  to  give  your  hand 
to  sleep  in  a  hammock  again,  and  to  feel  the 
sweat  running  down  your  back,  and  you  '11  want 
to  chuck  your  gun  up  against  your  chin  and 
23 


354  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

shoot  into  a  line  of  men,  and  the  policemen 
won't  let  you,  and  your  wife  won't  let  you. 
That's  what  you  're  giving  up.  There  it  is. 
Take  a  good  look  at  it.  You  '11  never  see  it 
again." 


XV 

THE  steamer  "Santiago,"  carrying  "passengers, 
bullion,  and  coffee,"  was  headed  to  pass  Porto 
Rico  by  midnight,  when  she  would  be  free  of 
land  until  she  anchored  at  the  quarantine  sta 
tion  of  the  green  hills  of  Staten  Island.  She 
had  not  yet  shaken  off  the  contamination  of  the 
earth  ;  a  soft  inland  breeze  still  tantalized  her 
with  odors  of  tree  and  soil,  the  smell  of  the 
fresh  coat  of  paint  that  had  followed  her  coaling 
rose  from  her  sides,  and  the  odor  of  spilt  coffee- 
grains  that  hung  around  the  hatches  had  yet  to 
be  blown  away  by  a  jealous  ocean  breeze,  or 
washed  by  a  welcoming  cross  sea. 

The  captain  stopped  at  the  open  entrance  of 
the  Social  Hall.  "  If  any  of  you  ladies  want  to 
take  your  last  look  at  Olancho  you  'vc  got  to 
come  now,"  he  said.  "  We  '11  lose  the  Valencia 
light  in  the  next  quarter  hour." 

Miss  Langham  and  King  looked  up  from  their 
novels  and  smiled,  and  Miss  Langham  shook 
her  head.  "  I  've  taken  three  final  farewells  of 


356  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

Olancho  already,"  she  said :  "  before  we  went 
down  to  dinner,  and  when  the  sun  set,  and 
when  the  moon  rose.  I  have  no  more  senti 
ment  left  to  draw  on.  Do  you  want  to  go  ? " 
she  asked. 

"  I  'm  very  comfortable,  thank  you,"  King 
said,  and  returned  to  the  consideration  of  his 
novel. 

But  Clay  and  Hope  arose  at  the  captain's 
suggestion  with  suspicious  alacrity,  and  stepped 
out  upon  the  empty  deck,  and  into  the  encom 
passing  darkness,  with  a  little  sigh  of  relief. 

Alice  Langham  looked  after  them  somewhat 
wistfully  and  bit  the  edges  of  her  book.  She 
sat  for  some  time  with  her  brows  knitted,  glanc 
ing  occasionally  and  critically  toward  King  and 
up  with  unseeing  eyes  at  the  swinging  lamps  of 
the  saloon.  He  caught  her  looking  at  him  once 
when  he  raised  his  eyes  as  he  turned  a  page,  and 
smiled  back  at  her,  and  she  nodded  pleasantly 
and  bent  her  head  over  her  reading.  She  as 
sured  herself  that  after  all  King  understood  her 
and  she  him,  and  that  if  they  never  rose  to 
certain  heights,  they  never  sank  below  a  high 
level  of  mutual  esteem,  and  that  perhaps  was 
the  best  in  the  end. 

King  had  placed  his  yacht  at  the  disposal  of 
Madame  Alvarez,  and  she  had  sailed  to  Colon, 


SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE  857 

where  she  could  change  to  the  steamers  for 
Lisbon,  while  he  accompanied  the  Langhams 
and  the  wedding  party  to  New  York. 

Clay  recognized  that  the  time  had  now  arrived 
in  his  life  when  he  could  graduate  from  the 
position  of  manager-director  and  become  the 
engineering  expert,  and  that  his  services  in 
Olancho  were  no  longer  needed. 

With  Rojas  in  power  Mr.  Langham  had  noth 
ing  further  to  fear  from  the  Government,  and 
with  Kirkland  in  charge  and  young  Langham 
returning  after  a  few  months'  absence  to  resume 
his  work,  he  felt  himself  free  to  enjoy  his 
holiday. 

They  had  taken  the  first  steamer  out,  and  the 
combined  efforts  of  all  had  been  necessary  to 
prevail  upon  Mac  Williams  to  accompany  them  ; 
and  even  now  the  fact  that  he  was  to  act  as 
Clay's  best  man  and,  as  Langham  assured  him 
cheerfully,  was  to  wear  a  frock  coat  and  see  his 
name  in  all  the  papers,  brought  on  such  sudden 
panics  of  fear  that  the  fast-fading  coast  line 
filled  his  soul  with  regret,  and  a  wilful  desire  to 
jump  overboard  and  swim  back. 

Clay  and  Hope  stopped  at  the  door  of  the 
chief  engineer's  cabin  and  said  they  had  come  to 
pay  him  a  visit.  The  chief  had  but  just  come 
from  the  depths  where  the  contamination  of  the 


358  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

earth  was  most  evident  in  the  condition  of  his 
stokers  ;  but  his  chin  was  now  cleanly  shaven, 
and  his  pipe  was  drawing  as  well  as  his  engine 
fires,  and  he  had  wrapped  himself  in  an  old 
P.  &  0.  white  duck  jacket  to  show  what  he  had 
been  before  he  sank  to  the  level  of  a  coasting 
steamer.  They  admired  the  clerk-like  neatness 
of  the  report  he  had  just  finished,  and  in  return 
he  promised  them  the  fastest  run  on  record,  and 
showed  them  the  portrait  of  his  wife,  and  of 
their  tiny  cottage  on  the  Isle  of  Wight,  and  his 
jade  idols  from  Corea,  and  carved  cocoanut 
gourds  from  Brazil,  and  a  picture  from  the 
"  Graphic  "  of  Lord  Salisbury,  tacked  to  the  par 
tition  and  looking  delightedly  down  between 
two  highly  colored  lithographs  of  Miss  Ellen 
Terry  and  the  Princess  May. 

Then  they  called  upon  the  captain,  and  Clay 
asked  him  why  captains  always  hung  so  much 
lace  about  their  beds  when  they  invariably  slept 
on  a  red  velvet  sofa  with  their  boots  on,  and  the 
captain  ordered  his  Chinese  steward  to  mix 
them  a  queer  drink  and  offered  them  the  choice 
of  a  six  months'  accumulation  of  paper  novels, 
and  free  admittance  to  his  bridge  at  all  hours. 
And  then  they  passed  on  to  the  door  of  the 
smoking-room  and  beckoned  MacWilliams  to 
come  out  and  join  them.  His  manner  as  he  did 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  359 

so  bristled  with  importance,  and  he  drew  them 
eagerly  to  the  rail. 

"  I  've  just  been  having  a  chat  with  Captain 
Burke,"  he  said,  in  an  undertone.  "  He  's  been 
telling  Langham  and  me  about  a  new  game 
that 's  better  than  running  railroads.  He  says 
there's  a  country  called  Macedonia  that's  got 
a  native  prince  who  wants  to  be  free  from 
Turkey,  and  the  Turks  won't  let  him,  and 
Burke  says  if  we  '11  each  put  up  a  thousand 
dollars,  he  '11  guarantee  to  get  the  prince  free  in 
six  months.  He 's  made  an  estimate  of  the 
cost  and  submitted  it  to  the  Russian  Embassy 
at  Washington,  and  he  says  they  will  help  him 
secretly,  and  he  knows  a  man  who  has  just 
patented  a  new  rifle,  arid  who  will  supply  him 
with  a  thousand  of  them  for  the  sake  of  the 
advertisement.  He  says  it 's  a  mountainous 
country,  and  all  you  have  to  do  is  to  stand  on 
the  passes  and  roll  rocks  down  on  the  Turks  as 
they  come  in.  It  sounds  easy,  does  n't  it  ?" 

"  Then  you  're  thinking  of  turning  profes 
sional  filibuster  yourself  ?  "  said  Clay. 

"  Well,  I  don't  know.  It  sounds  more  inter 
esting  than  engineering.  Burke  says  I  beat  him 
on  this  last  fight,  and  he  'd  like  to  have  me  with 
him  in  the  next  one  —  sort  of  young-blood-in- 
the-firm  idea  —  and  he  calculates  that  we  can 


360  SOLDIERS  OF  FORTUNE 

go  about  setting  people  free  and  upsetting  gov 
ernments  for  some  time  to  come.  He  says 
there  is  always  something  to  fight  about  if  you 
look  for  it.  And  I  must  say  the  condition 
of  those  poor  Macedonians  does  appeal  to  me. 
Think  of  them  all  alone  down  there  bullied  by 
that  Sultan  of  Turkey,  and  wanting  to  be  free 
and  independent.  That's  not  right.  You,  as 
an  American  citizen,  ought  to  be  the  last  person 
in  the  world  to  throw  cold  water  on  an  under 
taking  like  that.  In  the  name  of  Liberty  now  ?  " 

"I  don't  object;  set  them  free,  of  course," 
laughed  Clay.  "  But  how  long  have  you  enter 
tained  this  feeling  for  the  enslaved  Macedonians, 
Mac?" 

tk  Well,  I  never  heard  of  them  until  a  quartei 
of  an  hour  ago,  but  they  oughtn't  to  suffer 
through  my  ignorance." 

"  Certainly  not.  Let  me  know  when  you  're 
going  to  do  it,  and  Hope  and  I  will  run  over  and 
look  on.  I  should  like  to  see  you  and  Burke  and 
the  Prince  of  Macedonia  rolling  rocks  down  on 
the  Turkish  Empire." 

Hope  and  Clay  passed  on  up  the  deck  laugh 
ing,  and  Mac  Williams  looked  after  them  with  a 
fond  and  paternal  smile.  The  lamp  in  the 
wheelhouse  threw  a  broad  belt  of  light  across 
the  forward  deck  as  they  passed  through  it  into 


OVER   THERE   IS   THE   COAST   OF   AFRICA. 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE  861 

the  darkness  of  the  bow,  where  the  lonely  look 
out  turned  and  stared  at  them  suspiciously,  and 
then  resumed  his  stern  watch  over  the  great 
waters. 

They  leaned  upon  the  rail  and  breathed  the 
soft  air  which  the  rush  of  the  steamer  threw  in 
their  faces,  and  studied  in  silence  the  stars  that 
lay  so  low  upon  the  horizon  line  that  they  looked 
like  the  harbor  lights  of  a  great  city. 

"  Do  you  see  that  long  line  of  lamps  off  our 
port  bow  ?  "  asked  Clay. 

Hope  nodded. 

"  Those  are  the  electric  lights  along  the  ocean 
drive  at  Long  Branch  and  up  the  Rumson  Road, 
and  those  two  stars  a  little  higher  up  are  fixed 
to  the  mast-heads  of  the  Scotland  Lightship. 
And  that  mass  of  light  that  you  think  is  the 
Milky  Way,  is  the  glare  of  the  New  York  street 
lamps  thrown  up  against  the  sky." 

"  Are  we  so  near  as  that?"  said  Hope,  smil 
ing.  "  And  what  lies  over  there  ? "  she  asked, 
pointing  to  the  east. 

"  Over  there  is  the  coast  of  Africa.  Don't  you 
see  the  lighthouse  on  Cape  Bon  ?  If  it  was  n't 
for  Gibraltar  being  in  the  way,  I  could  show 
you  the  harbor  lights  of  Bizerta,  and  the  ter 
races  of  Algiers  shining  like  a  cafe  chantant  in 
the  night. 


362  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

"  Algiers,"  sighed  Hope,  "  where  you  were  a 
soldier  of  Africa,  and  rode  across  the  deserts. 
Will  you  take  me  there  ?" 

"  There,  of  course,  but  to  Gibralter  first,  where 
we  will  drive  along  the  Alameda  by  moonlight. 
I  drove  there  once  coining  home  from  a  rness 
dinner  with  the  Colonel.  The  drive  lies  between 
broad  white  balustrades,  and  the  moon  shone 
down  on  us  between  the  leaves  of  the  Spanish 
bayonet.  It  was  like  an  Italian  garden.  But 
he  did  not  see  it,  and  he  would  talk  to  me  about 
the  Watkins  range  finder  on  the  lower  ramparts, 
and  he  puffed  on  a  huge  cigar.  I  tried  to  imag 
ine  I  was  there  on  my  honeymoon,  but  the  end 
of  his  cigar  would  light  up  and  I  would  see  his 
white  mustache  and  the  glow  on  his  red  jacket, 
so  I  vowed  I  would  go  over  that  drive  again  with 
the  proper  person.  And  we  won't  talk  of  range 
finders,  will  we  ? 

"  There  to  the  North  is  Paris;  your  Paris,  and 
my  Paris,  with  London  only  eight  hours  away. 
If  you  look  very  closely,  you  can  see  the  thou 
sands  of  hansom  cab  lamps  flashing  across  the 
asphalt,  and  the  open  theatres,  and  the  fairy 
lamps  in  the  gardens  back  of  the  houses  in  May- 
fair,  where  they  are  giving  dances  in  your  honor, 
in  honor  of  the  beautiful  American  bride,  whom 
every  one  wants  to  meet.  And  you  will  wear  the 


SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

finest  tiara  we  can  get  on  Bond  Street,  but  no 
one  will  look  at  it ;  they  will  only  look  at  you. 
And  I  will  feel  very  miserable  and  tease  you  to 
come  home." 

Hope  put  her  hand  in  his,  and  'he  held  her 
finger-tips  to  his  lips  for  an  instant  and  closed 
his  other  hand  upon  hers. 

"And  after  that  ?"  asked  Hope. 

"  After  that  we  will  go  to  work  again,  and 
take  long  journeys  to  Mexico  and  Peru  or  wher 
ever  they  want  me,  and  I  will  sit  in  judgment 
on  the  work  other  chaps  have  done.  And  when 
we  get  back  to  our  car  at  night,  or  to  the  section 
house,  for  it  will  be  very  rough  sometimes," 
Hope  pressed  his  hand  gently  in  answer,  —  "  I  will 
tell  you  privately  how  very  differently  your  hus 
band  would  have  done  it,  and  you,  knowing  all 
about  it,  will  say  that  had  it  been  left  to  me,  I 
would  certainly  have  accomplished  it  in  a  vastly 
superior  manner." 

"  Well,  so  you  would,"  said  Hope,  calmly. 

"  That 's  what  I  said  you  'd  say,"  laughed 
Clay.  "  Dearest,"  he  begged,  "  promise  me  some 
thing.  Promise  me  that  you  are  going  to  be 
very  happy." 

Hope  raised  her  eyes  and  looked  up  at  him  in 
silence,  and  had  the  man  in  the  wheelhouse  been 
watching  the  stars,  as  he  should  have  been,  no 


364  SOLDIERS   OF  FORTUNE 

one  but  the  two  foolish  young  people  on  the  bow 
of  the  boat  would  have  known  her  answer. 

The  ship's  bell  sounded  eight  times,  and  Hope 
moved  slightly. 

"  So  late  as  that,"  she  sighed.  "  Come.  We 
must  be  going  back." 

A  great  wave  struck  the  ship's  side  a  friendly 
slap,  and  the  wind  caught  up  the  spray  and 
tossed  it  in  their  eyes,  and  blew  a  strand  of  her 
hair  loose  so  that  it  fell  across  Clay's  face,  and 
they  laughed  happily  together  as  she  drew  it 
back  and  he  took  her  hand  again  to  steady  her 
progress  across  the  slanting  deck. 

As  they  passed  hand  in  hand  out  of  the  shadow 
into  the  light  from  the  wheelhouse,  the  lookout 
in  the  bow  counted  the  strokes  of  the  bell  to 
himself,  and  then  turned  and  shouted  back  his 
measured  cry  to  the  bridge  above  them.  His 
voice  seemed  to  be  a  part  of  the  murmuring  sea 
and  the  welcoming  winds. 

"  Listen,"  said  Clay. 

"  Eight  bells,"  the  voice  sang  from  the  dark 
ness.     "  The  for'ward  light 's  shining  bright  — 
and  all's  well." 


' 


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LD  21A-60m-4,(64 
(E4555slO)476B 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


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